November 2015 Archives

November 16, 2015

Registration for Acton University 2016 is now open

We are now 211 days from the opening day of Acton University 2016! University.Acton.org is updated, full of brand new information, and ready to go for next year’s conference, held at The De Vos Place in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 14-17, 2016. Continue Reading...

November 16, 2015

Why Don’t Christian Victims of Islamic State Qualify As Victims of Genocide?

The Obama administration is moving to designate the Islamic State’s persecution of the Yazidi in Iraq an act of “genocide.” For the past few years the Yazidi, a tiny religious minority in the Kurdish region of the country, have been forced to flee the killings, rapes, and enslavement by Islamic State (the terrorist group formerly known as ISIS). Continue Reading...

November 13, 2015

Arthur C. Clarke’s Inhuman Trade-Off in ‘Childhood’s End’

The fears of the past resonate in the present, and it’s no wonder humanity sometimes grasps desperately for answers in response to a frightening and unknowable future. Sometimes these answers come to us through literature and film which may allow us to dispense with the worst of them, given enough time. Continue Reading...

November 13, 2015

Explainer: What You Should Know About the Latest Contraceptive Mandate Challenge

The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a challenge from religious nonprofit groups to federal government’s contraceptive mandate. Here are some answers to questions you may have about that case. What is this case and what’s it about? Continue Reading...

November 13, 2015

Acton Institute’s ‘Poverty Inc.’ Wins Templeton Freedom Award

Poverty Inc., the new documentary that has grown out of the Acton Institute’s PovertyCure initiative, was awarded Atlas Network’s Templeton Freedom Award at an event last night in New York. Continue Reading...

November 12, 2015

Over-Educated and Under-Trained: Mike Rowe on the Need for Philosophizing Welders

Marco Rubio has inspired plenty of chin-stroking over his recent remarks about welders earning more than philosophers. “We need more welders and less philosophers,” he concluded in a recent debate. Continue Reading...

November 12, 2015

Sisters of St. Dominic Rap ExxonMobil’s Knuckles

Religious shareholder activists egging on a federal investigation of ExxonMobil include the Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment, which counts the Sisters of St. Dominic of Caldwell, New Jersey, among its faith-based members. Continue Reading...

November 12, 2015

Beyond Humanitarianism: Michael Mattheson Miller on the Goal of Human Flourishing

In a recent episode of EconTalk, Russell Roberts chats with Acton Institute’s Michael Mattheson Miller about Poverty, Inc., the award-winning documentary on the challenges of poverty alleviation in the developing world. Continue Reading...

November 12, 2015

3 questions to counter arguments from the economic left

Over the past few decades, economist Thomas Sowell has been one of the most effective, yet under-appreciated, proponents of conservative and libertarian economic thought. He is also one of our most powerful critics of the often destructive and harmful effects of liberal economic policies. Continue Reading...

November 12, 2015

Asking the Right Question about Poverty

Writing for a special New York Times section on giving, Alina Tugend looks at the knotty problem of how best to help those in need. She digs into things like the economics behind food pantries and how relief donations to those devastated by natural disasters often wind up making things worse. Continue Reading...