Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'religious liberty'

October 04, 2023

The Constitution of the Fifth Republic at 65

Nearly 20 people were killed in Paris during and immediately following the Islamist attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January 2015. Then, in November of that same year, terrorists killed 130 and injured hundreds more in a series of coordinated attacks across Paris that included suicide bombers detonating explosives outside the Stade de France, indiscriminate shootings at crowded restaurants, and the storming of the Bataclan concert hall, where an American rock band played for a sold-out crowd of 1,500. Continue Reading...
August 17, 2023

Threats to Religious Freedom in Australia

Australia is a liberal democracy and commonly celebrated as a model of multiculturalism. Its legal framework could be described as a Westminster appropriation of American republicanism. Section 116 of the Australian constitution states: “The Commonwealth [federal government] shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.” Continue Reading...
July 11, 2023

A Win for Religious Employees

As it turns out, the Supreme Court last week opted against transforming the United States into a totalitarian, theocratic hellscape like the New York Times’ Linda Greenhouse had prophesied in January. Continue Reading...
June 15, 2023

Freedom of Religion Is Inherently Good

Growing up in Yemen, a conservative branch of Islam was ‎very popular in my household, school, and mosque. Freedom of ‎religion was a myth frowned upon. It was thought that Islam ‎is the right religion that will take us to Paradise, and the rest of ‎humanity is, alas, going to hell unless they accept our narrow, ‎stringent version of Islam. Continue Reading...
May 18, 2023

Liberty Is Not the Product of Any One Religion

Paul D. Miller, a professor of the practice of international affairs at Georgetown University, has argued in a recent essay in Christianity Today that Christianity is not necessary for democracy. Miller challenges “conservative evangelicals” who believe that “Christianity is necessary for a free society.” Continue Reading...
March 29, 2023

The Chinese Communist Party Wages War on Religion—Again

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping secured a third term last October. He continues to transform what once was loose authoritarian rule into a near-totalitarian system. In almost every area, the CCP has increased its power over the Chinese people, demanding absolute obedience. Continue Reading...
January 18, 2023

Fidel Castro’s Failed Paradise

Six decades after its celebrated communist revolution, Cuba remains a totem for America’s left. Yet the country is imploding into irrelevance. Fidel Castro is dead and Raul Castro is retired, but their successors rule as if 1989 had never occurred. Continue Reading...