Year: 2009

December 22, 2009

Not So Liberating: The Twilight of Liberation Theology

NRO’s Corner published my article on Pope Benedict’s recent remarks to Brazilian bishops on liberation theology: It went almost unnoticed, but on December 5, Benedict XVI articulated one of the most stinging rebukes of a particular theological school ever made by a pope. Continue Reading...
December 22, 2009

Climate Babel

With all of the blizzards, cold temperatures and the circus-like atmosphere in Copenhagen last week, it looks like people are becoming more and more skeptical of global warming—or I should say climate change. Continue Reading...
December 22, 2009

The Regressive Carbon Tax

A new NBER working paper promises to blow up the myth that it is primarily the wealthy that will bear the cost of taxes on carbon emissions. In “Who Pays a Price on Carbon?” Continue Reading...
December 21, 2009

Blessed are the shoplifters?

If ever G.K. Chesterton’s old quip about heresy being “truth gone mad” was in full view, here comes a report from England whereby Fr. Tim Jones, an Anglican minister, had actually encouraged the poor to shoplift from large chains this holiday season. Continue Reading...
December 21, 2009

Avatar, WALL-E, and Hybrids

I saw the latest blockbuster Avatar last night, and the early plaudits are true: this is a visually stunning masterpiece of “hybrid” cinematography, a “full live-action shoot in combination with computer-generated characters and live environments.” Continue Reading...
December 18, 2009

Just Sign Here

Those three words Just Sign Here are what you’re told when you sign up for a cellphone, or buy a car or take out a bank loan. And it’s what you’re told to do when you buy a house whether or not there’s a mortgage. Continue Reading...
December 18, 2009

Guardian Angels and the CO2 Thing

The question: Is this Copenhagen global warming conference an environmental pilgrimage for some? Says one demonstrator: “You can call it, like, some kind of a new religion, I don’t know … ” But the guy in the polar bear costume isn’t so sure. Continue Reading...
December 17, 2009

As We Forgive, Can I Forgive?

My Acton commentary this week looks at As We Forgive, a moving documentary about reconciliation and forgiveness in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. As I reflected on forgiveness in my own life, my thoughts fell on a dear friend who died very young and my feelings towards the man who took his life. Continue Reading...