There’s a big, fairly new, global effort by Christians to cut worldwide poverty in half by 2015. Just what is this effort? A new giving initiative? A new network connecting churches in the first world with churches in the third world? A new global faith-based NGO? Sadly, no. The new effort is called the “Micah Challenge,” which turns out really to be a challenge to get Christians to call for government action. The Micah Challenge is described as “a global...

The end of April marks the conclusion to the first month of operation for the Acton Institute’s PowerBlog. Thanks to all menters and readers who have made this outreach effective. ...

On May 2, 1810, the future Pope Leo XIII, 257th Roman Catholic pope (1878-1903), is born. For a survey of the legacy of Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum and the initiation of Catholic Social Teaching, as well as his confluence with the thought of Abraham Kuyper, read this article by Mark A. Noll, “A Century of Christian Social Teaching: The Legacy of Leo XIII and Abraham Kuyper.” ...

The Center for Effective Compassion has opened its 2005 Samaritan Award applications. The survey and instructions are available from May 2 through June 30. First prize is $10,000; nine runners up will receive grant writing assistance, information technology support, Web site support, and much more from nationally-acclaimed consultants. All Samaritan Award applicants will be listed in the new Web based Guide to Effective Compassion, the first online information resource to provide transparency and accountability data for privately funded U. S....

Over the course of the past few months, many leaders on the left have been ramping up their rhetoric against the influence of the much-maligned “religious right” in American politics. The most recent high-profile example came from Democratic Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado, who described James Dobson and his Focus on the Family organization as “…the Antichrist of the world” in response to their strong advocacy against the filibustering of judicial nominees. Salazar later retracted his statement in the face...

Some theologians have taken a troubling interpretation of the Noahic covenant to support a heterodox agenda. The World Alliance of Reformed Churches, in its attempts to call a status confessionis, called various study groups and forums to report on the “global crisis of life.” To this end, both the south-south member churches forum (held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 23-26 2003) and the south-north member churches forum (held in London Colney, UK, February 8-11 2004) affirm that: God has made...

"In the French revolution a civil liberty for every Christian to agree with the unbelieving majority; in Calvinism, a liberty of conscience, which enables every man to serve God according to his own conviction and the dictates of his own heart." —Abraham Kuyper, "Calvinism and Politics," Stone Lectures on Calvinism, 1898. "What the French took from the Americans was their theory of revolution, not their theory of government—their cutting, not their sewing." —Lord Acton "The French Revolution ignores God. It...

Noting the declining participation munity and civic groups, Jordan J. Ballor assesses a different root cause than has been put forth so far. “The greatest share of blame,” he writes, “Ought to be laid at the feet of the modernist view of individuality, which minimizes the importance munity and social structures.” Read the full text here. ...

Here’s a well-balanced story by Steve Greenhouse in today’s New York Times, “Can’t Wal-Mart, a Retail Behemoth, Pay More?” On this point, refer to an op-ed by Acton staff about the economics and ethics of the “living wage” (PDF). For a discussion of the fairness of wages and free agreements of employment in Catholic Social Teaching, see “Justice and Charity in Wages,” from Religion & Liberty. ...

Watch Germany fall further into the abyss as it turns its back on both liberalism and Christianity. Once a staunchly pro-American, global economic powerhouse, the country is now the “sick man” of Europe more ways than one. These recent news items offer proof: Chancellor Gerhard Schrr lashes out at the “unrestrained neo-liberal system” for his country’s economic woes. Schrr has been actively courting Russia and China as allies; John Vinocur’s column in yesterday’s International Herald Tribune points to “Schrrism” as...

A respondent over at Mere Comments gets right to the heart of what the scientific and technological ethos is (i.e., Technopoly): “If we can do it, it’s right” and “If we can do it, we do it” which resolve to “it’s right if I do it.” Always an mittee is there to help sear the consciences of those involved. These are precisely the guiding principles of university ethics panels that permit creation of genetic chimeras, promote embryonic stem cell usage...

On this date, in 1813, Danish philosopher and Christian Søren Kierkegaard was born. Five years later, on this date in 1818, German philosopher and atheist Karl Marx was born. For a rough sketch of where these men fit in the history of philosophy, see this “Flow Chart of Modern Philosophy After Kant.” ...