Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'liberalism'

Yep, the Social Sciences Really Are Biased Against Conservatives

“Psychologists have demonstrated the value of diversity—particularly diversity of viewpoints—for enhancing creativity, discovery, and problem solving,” say a team of social scientists in a new paper. “But one key type of viewpoint diversity is lacking in academic psychology in general and social psychology in particular: political diversity.” Continue Reading...

Why Liberals Should Support the Hobby Lobby Decision

When the Supreme Court ruled on the Hobby Lobby case, the near universal reaction by liberals was that it was a travesty of epic proportion. But as self-professed liberal law professor Brett McDonnell argues, the left should embrace the Hobby Lobby decision since it supports liberal values: The first question was: Can for-profit corporations invoke religious liberty rights under RFRA? Continue Reading...

David Brat’s Religious Virtues

In a piece today for the NYT Magazine, economics reporter Binyamin Appelbaum examines David Brat’s fusion of faith and free-market economics. Appelbaum finds that mixture problematic, to say the least, but it’s hard to sort out whether it is the religious faith or the free-market sympathies that Appelbaum finds more troubling. Continue Reading...

Toxic Untruths About Diversity

Ross Douthat of The New York Times (and plenary speaker at Acton University 2014) talks about diversity and dishonesty, focusing on the recent resignation of Brendan Eich at Mozilla and the decision by Brandeis University to withdraw an honorary degree from human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Continue Reading...

Liberals Acting Illiberally

“Liberal: not bound by traditional ways or beliefs.” A “liberal” then, would be a person who is open-minded, ready to listen to another point of view. “I’m not bound to any traditions; I’m open-minded. Continue Reading...

Orthodoxy and Ordoliberalism

Today at Red River Orthodox, I offer a brief introduction to the liberal tradition for Orthodox Christians living in the West: Liberalism, historically, is a broad intellectual tradition including a large and disparate group of thinkers. Continue Reading...

Why the Left Abandoned Religious Freedom

When it passed in 1993, The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) was supported left-leaning Democratic lawmakers and liberal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union. President Clinton, who signed it into law, called the bill one of his greatest accomplishments as President. Continue Reading...

Are We Creeping Towards Worship of the State?

We’ve almost all seen some of the creepy messianic videos associated with President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. If you’re in need of a refresher there are examples here and here. It isn’t solely a problem of the political left though. Continue Reading...