Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'Jordan Ballor'

August 10, 2017

Brains and brawn: Does manual labor belong in the modern economy?

As economic prosperity continues to spread, and as the American economy completes its transition into the age of information, manual labor is increasingly cast down in the popular imagination. When our youth navigate and graduate from high school, they receive a range of pressures to attend four-year colleges and pursue various “white-collar” careers, whether in finance or law or tech or the academy. Continue Reading...
February 01, 2017

Radio Free Acton: Christian Democracy in America

On this edition of Radio Free Acton, Hunter Baker, Micah Watson, Paul Bonicelli and Jordan Ballor discuss the prospects for a Christian democratic political movement in the United States. Hunter Baker is a university fellow and associate professor of political science at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. Continue Reading...
October 25, 2016

Is it possible for the church to be apolitical?

Weary and wary from the Religious Right’s checkered history of unhealthy political alliances, many pastors and churches have opted for disengagement altogether. Or the illusion of disengagement, that is. As Andrew Walker reminds us, “It is impossible for churches to be apolitical because Jesus is a King. Continue Reading...
December 15, 2015

The Church as Cultural Lifeblood

After years of rejecting or downplaying so-called “organized religion,” evangelicals are beginning to appreciate the church not only as organism, but as institution. As Robert Joustra explains at Capital Commentary, a “minor renaissance in thinking” is taking place, wherein the church is viewed “not as a gathering of hierarchy-allergic spiritualists” but as “a brick and mortar institution, something with tradition, and weight, and history.” Continue Reading...
April 22, 2015

What a Teen with Down Syndrome Can Teach Us About the Joy of Work

In an enthusiastic reaction to his first job offer, Ben Sunderman, a 19-year-old with Down syndrome, has spread lots of smiles across the internet. In doing so, he reminds us of the power of work to bring joy to human lives, and of the gift-giving capacity God has given to each of us, including those we often dismiss as “disabled.” Continue Reading...
March 03, 2015

Why Spock Matters

Leonard Nimoy, best known for his role as Spock in the Star Trek television series and movies, passed away last week. For many of us, it was a sad event. Nimoy had created a memorable character that is an enduring and endearing part of our pop culture lexicon. Continue Reading...
February 10, 2015

Audio: Jordan Ballor on Honesty in Science

On February 7th, Christopher Booker of Britain’s The Telegraph caused a stir with his column entitled “The fiddling with temperature data is the biggest science scandal ever.” Booker remarked: When future generations look back on the global-warming scare of the past 30 years, nothing will shock them more than the extent to which the official temperature records – on which the entire panic ultimately rested – were systematically “adjusted” to show the Earth as having warmed much more than the actual data justified. Continue Reading...