Latest Posts

February 08, 2006

The state of American science and culture, cont’d.

Following Michael Miller’s recent Acton Commentary, “Why Johnny Can’t Compete with Sanjay”, and the resulting comments, two of America’s best political commentators have also weighed in on the subject. First there’s Charles Krauthammer’s Time article, arguing that America is doing fine, partly as a result of less dependence on government-funded research. Continue Reading...
February 08, 2006

Evangelicals and global warming

After much whispering and pre-publicity, a group of 86 evangelical leaders has announced their support for what The New York Times calls “a major initiative to fight global warming.” As part of the “Evangelical Climate Initiative,” they are calling for “federal legislation that would require reductions in carbon dioxide emissions through ‘cost-effective, market-based mechanisms.'” Continue Reading...
February 08, 2006

A Tocquevillian in the Vatican

With the publication of Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict XVI is warning that an all-encompassing government would be unable to provide the one thing that people really need — loving, personal concern. Continue Reading...
February 07, 2006

What would Lord Acton say?

Writing in Canada’s Macleans magazine, Mark Steyn modifies a famous saying of our namesake: As Lord Acton almost said, all power corrupts but Liberal power corrupts very liberally. Since it’s a Canadian publication, the capital “L” refers to the party that was booted out of power in the recent elections. Continue Reading...
February 07, 2006

A case for conversation

Here’s a convincing op-ed piece by William Romanowski, who teaches film studies at Calvin College, “Missing the big picture.” He writes in USAToday about the ambivalent impact of the upswing of religiously-oriented movies coming from Hollywood. Continue Reading...
February 07, 2006

Windy city Wal-Mart

What might a big city Wal-Mart look like? Until now, such a question was only answerable through some imaginative speculation. Wal-Mart has announced plans to open the first store within Chicago’s city limits in the Austin neighborhood this summer. Continue Reading...
February 06, 2006

Acton ad campaign update

Acton is wrapping up a three-month project that had print advertisements running in several publications: WORLD, Crisis and the Michigan Catholic. The idea is to get people thinking about the economic consequences of trade policies and the power of entrepreneurial creativity. Continue Reading...
February 06, 2006

When we’ve been wronged

When I see things like this going on, I ask myself, “What makes Christianity different? What makes me different?” Here are some guidelines for a Christian response to slander, hatred, and persecution: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Continue Reading...
February 03, 2006

The Mohammed cartoon controversy

The European press and the blogosphere have been full of stories over the last few days about the controversy started by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. There’s enough material out there that readers of the Acton blog don’t need a full run-down here. Continue Reading...