Too often, short term mission trips to the developing world trample on dignity or harm economic growth, says Ray Sawatsky. It’s time to stop confusing charity with generosity. With summer over, another season of short term mission trips draws to a close. Churches, schools, and agencies (both for-profit and non-profit) have sent teams to work in the developing world. These mission trips (or “internships,” or “working holidays”) are major pieces in the lives of many North American believers—both spiritually and,...

This morning, Autocam Corp. Chief Executive Officer John C. Kennedy joined us on AU Online to give a free presentation on ObamaCare, the HHS mandate, and the practical implications of this legislation from his perspective as a Roman Catholic businessman. His presentation was spot on and spurred some good questions from attendees. But why take my word for it? If you didn’t attend this morning’s session, you still have the chance to enroll for free to listen to a recording...

On the National Catholic Register, Joan Frawley Desmond has a round up on the deepening crisis in Syria. She writes that Pope Benedict XVI, on his recent visit to Lebanon, “urged rival political, ethnic and religious groups to e their differences and mon ground for the sake of peace.” The Vatican soon announced that it would send a papal delegation to Syria, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, was selected to join the...

The first presidential election I remember was the Ronald Reagan – Walter Mondale race in 1984. My kindergarten class in the Philadelphia suburbs held a mock vote that Reagan overwhelmingly won. It of course reflected the way our parents were voting. I can remember at the age of five, John Glenn was one of the Democrat candidates seeking the nomination and I knew he was a famous astronaut. The truth is, I’ve always been fascinated by presidential elections and Bare...

Based on Nicholas Eberstadt’s book, A Nation of Takers, this Seussian video depicts the dangerous dependency of entitlements and the importance of liberty. (Via: Values & Capitalism) ...

Despite requests to evacuate the area targeted by Hurricane Sandy, numerous residents in the northeast refused to leave their homes. Their decisions to defy evacuation orders, said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, were “selfish” and morally unjustified. But the ethics are not so clear cut, says Acton’s Ray Northstine, in a Religion News Service report published in the Washington Post: Moral justifications to ride out dangerous storms can vary. Some stay put to look after elderly neighbors who can’t evacuate,...

In an interview for Acton’s Religion & Liberty quarterly, the Russian Orthodox bishop in charge of external affairs for the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk, warned that that the situation for the Christian population of Syria has deteriorated to an alarming degree. pared the situation today, after almost two years of fighting in Syria, as analogous to Iraq, which saw a virtual depopulation of Christians following the U.S. invasion in 2003. The Russian Orthodox Church has been among...

I was recently invited to write an essay on the importance of interdisciplinary studies for the Calvin Seminary student publication Kerux. In my essay “The Truth is One,” I reflect on the famous quote of Abraham Kuyper, [N]o single piece of our mental world is to be hermetically sealed off from the rest, and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: “Mine!”...

Jim Shaw at the Catholic Herald has written a provocative piece that suggests one of the best ways to fight poverty is to support Catholic religious orders. He writes about his experiences in Africa: the lack of rule of law, the petty corruption that eats away at the poor, how lack of infrastructure obstructs progress for farmers and other businesses. The density of these issues seem insurmountable. The sheer intractability of these problems should serve as a warning against utopian...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have launched a new website, First American Freedom. The website aims to inform readers on issues surrounding religious liberty, current threats to religious liberty, and actions one may take to uphold this liberty. Religious freedom is our first American freedom. It is a founding principle of our country, protected by the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. It’s a fundamental human right, rooted in the dignity of every human person—people of...