Review of Mitch Pearlstein's From Family Collapse to America's Decline: The Educational, Economic, and Social Costs of Family Fragmentation (ISI, Aug 2011) ISBN: 978- 1607093626. Paperback, 165 pages; $24.95. The American economy remains sluggish and, from all over the political spectrum, particularly the left, people have turned their attention to inequality. The Occupy Wall Street movement, though without actual plans for reform, emphasizes the growing inequality between the top one percent and the 99 percent of Americans below them,...

It is telling that the Washington Post report on the religious Left's Circle of Protection campaign for big government describes the effort as one that would send chills through any politician who looks to churches and religious groups as a source of large voting blocs, because, in fact, this is not an honest faith-inspired campaign to protect the least of these from Draconian government cuts, as claimed. It is a hyper-political movement that offers up the moral authority of...

It is mon, even clichéd saying that the American Civil War pitted brother against brother. Certainly, the conflict divided the nation as the seceded Southern states fought for independence, while the Northern and Border states fought to preserve the Union. Even within the sections, there were politicians, civilians, and soldiers who sympathized with the other side. The issues of Slavery, States-Rights, and the meaning of the Federal Constitution created passions and hatreds, which leapt from the ballot box to...

More than anything else, Dolphus Weary brings credibility to the issues of poverty and economic and spiritual development. His life itself is a testimony. Weary grew up under difficult social and economic circumstances in Mississippi. He has harnessed his own life experience to lead others out of the cycle of poverty and hopelessness. His model for holistic outreach to the poor with Mendenhall Ministries has been widely adopted in other parts of the country. The Mendenhall Ministries received national...

Dolphus Weary grew up in segregated Mississippi and then moved to California to attend school in 1967. He is one of the first black graduates of Los Angeles Baptist College. He returned to Mississippi to lead Mendenhall Ministries, a munity outreach organization that takes a holistic approach to solving problems of poverty. Currently, Dolphus Weary is president of R.E.A.L. Christian Foundation in Richland, Miss., which strives to empower and develop rural ministries to improve the lives of Mississippians. Among...

Review of Carl T. Bogus's William F. Buckley Jr. and the Rise of American Conservatism (ISI, Oct 2011) ISBN: 978-1596915800. Hardback, 416 pages; $19.80. Ronald Reagan affectionately called William F. Buckley our clipboard-bearing Galahad who took on the knights of darkness. The quote delivered at the 30th anniversary celebration of National Review speaks to the depth of Buckley's leadership over the conservative movement. Anybody knowledgeable of ancient Christianity and theology understands the significance of biographer Lee Edwards words when...

In this column, in the Summer 2006 issue of R&L, I answered the question: How does municate its ideas to the world? You might recall how I explained that video will be an increasingly important tool for Acton in the future. Video, of course, is today's dominant popular medium and we've been using it at Acton for some time now to advance the cause of freedom, globally and instantaneously. That's why Acton is one of the lead sponsors of...

From 1745 to 1807. Liberty is a word which, according as it is prehends the most good and the most evil of any in the world. Oliver Ellsworth played an instrumental role in the shaping of the early Republic. Not only did he ratify the constitution but he also served as Chief Justice of the United States from 1796 to 1800. Ellsworth, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention from Connecticut, is credited with dropping the term national for the...

From 1853to 1900. Socialism really stands on the same ground as the bourgeois régime hostile to it, namely, the supremacy of the material interest. Both have the same motto: man liveth by bread alone. The Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov has been cast in many contradictory ways, not all without merit. Born in Moscow, as a teenager he abandoned Christianity in favor of atheism, only to return to faith by 18 after encountering Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, and Schelling. Despite some...