compassion

January 21, 2019

Martin Luther King Jr., moral philosopher

Almost everyone has read Letter from Birmingham Jail – a brilliant essay. Just about everyone recognizes Martin Luther King Jr. as a great civil rights activist and orator. Which he certainly was. Continue Reading...

February 01, 2017

Video: Rudy Carrasco on how enterprise transforms communities

After growing up in poverty in East Los Angeles, Rudy Carrasco dedicated his adult life to pursuing “effective compassion” among those in need, working in urban ministry and investing heavily in poor communities. Continue Reading...

September 18, 2014

Mental Illness Is Not A Crime: L.A. County Pilots New Program

It is estimated that, at any time in the U.S., there are 1.2 million people with mental illness who are being held either in jail or prison. Some of them, without a doubt, truly belong there. Continue Reading...

January 13, 2014

Letter from Bangalore: Equality is God, and Compassion is its Prophet

I’ve just returned from Bangalore, where I attended a conference on “Bounds of Ethics in a Globalized World” at Christ University, which is run by the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, the first Catholic religious order started in India. Continue Reading...

January 09, 2014

It’s Not Enough to Care About ‘The Poor’

“Each of us has a personal responsibility to heed the call to care for the poor,” says Jennifer A. Marshall. “The Bible doesn’t leave us room to make poverty someone else’s problem.” Continue Reading...

December 18, 2013

Robert Reich at the Nativity: ‘Try Something Useful!’

In 2012, nearly $39 billion was spared to American givers via the charitable tax deduction, $33 billion of which went to the richest 20 percent of Americans. If that sounds like a lot, consider that it’s associated with roughly $316 billion in charitable donations. Continue Reading...

December 03, 2013

Climate Change, the Green Patriarch, and the Disposition of Fear

Today at First Things’ On the Square feature, I question the tone and timing of Patriarch Batholomew’s recent message on climate change. While I do not object to him making a statement about the subject in conjunction with the opening of the Warsaw Climate Change Conference, his initial reference, then silence, with regards to Typhoon Haiyan while other religious leaders offered their prayer, sympathy, and support to those affected, is disappointing. Continue Reading...

June 19, 2013

Edd Noell: Early Christians on Wealth and Poverty

This morning at Acton University I attended a fascinating lecture by Dr. Edd Noell, “Origins of Economics: The Scriptures and Early Church Fathers.” I have briefly examined one ancient Christian perspective on wealth in the past (here), but Dr. Continue Reading...

March 19, 2013

Does International Child Sponsorship Work?

In 1936, near the end of the Great Depression, Children International launched one of the earliest child sponsorship charities. Today, child sponsorship is one of the most significant forms of foreign aid. Continue Reading...

May 10, 2012

Charity Begins at Home

In a paper at the symposium I noted in yesterday’s post, Richard Helmholtz described the application of natural law in a particular case in which the judges observed that “charity begins at home,” since “it is a natural impulse to do good to one’s own family.” Continue Reading...

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