Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
Acton Line podcast: Antifa explained; America’s Founders in the crosshairs
Acton Line podcast: Antifa explained; America’s Founders in the crosshairs
Jan 12, 2026 5:10 AM

On June 29, violent riots between alt-right groups and Antifa broke out in Portland, Oregon, leaving several people with severe injuries. Portland is ing a hotbed for violent, left-wing groups. Who is Antifa and what are they protesting? Rev. Ben Johnson, senior editor at Acton, joins the podcast to explain the events of the protest and Antifa’s objective. After that, Craig Bruce Smith, professor of history at William Woods University, joins the show to bring attention to an increasing dismissal of America’s Founders and how some are trying to erase the founders’ legacies from history. The Founders were slaveholders and not without faults. How should we approach this history of slavery in the context of America’s founding?

Check out additional resources for this podcast:

Two more Oregon men left bloody after violent antifa attack at Portland protest

Portland mayor, e under fire after right-wing writer attacked at protest

Ted Cruz seeks federal action against Portland mayor after antifa attacks journalist

The spiritual core of political hate

You Can’t Celebrate America’s Independence While Vilifying The Founders

How to Understand Slavery and the American Founding

Letter to the Editor: George Washington should be honored, not vilified

San Francisco School Will Cover Controversial George Washington Murals

Purchase “American Honor: The Creation of the Nation’s Ideals during the Revolutionary Era,” by Craig Bruce Smith

New to the Acton Line podcast? Subscribe here! We also mend starting with these episodes:

Mourning the Notre-Dame cathedral inferno; Rev. Robert Sirico on education

F.A. Hayek’s Road to Serfdom; The media vs. ‘Unplanned’

Rev. Robert A. Sirico on the reality of socialism; Interview with a Venezuelan dissident

Do you have feedback for the Acton Line podcast team? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]. If you like Acton Line, don’t forget to leave a rating and review on iTunes!

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Love and Economics: From Contract to Cooperation
The subject of contracts is not particularly romantic, which is part of the reason I’d like to talk about contracts—and how we might reach beyond them. In some ways, e to overly ignore, downplay, or disregard contracts. Across the world, we see grandmaster politicians and planners trying to impose various “solutions” with the flicks of their wands, paying little attention to core featureslike trust and respect for property rights. Here in America, our government is increasingly bent on diluting or...
Persecution Of Christians: Will It Get Worse?
2014 was a terrible year for persecution of Christians. In Syria, North Korea and Somalia, Christians are routinely imprisoned and killed. In Iraq, 2014 saw the passage of a law requiring Christians to convert or pay an exorbitant tax. The other choice for Iraqi Christians is to flee. Open Doors has been tracking persecution of Christians around the world for 60 years. They have just released their latest report, and it makes a grim prediction: 2015 may very well be...
Joseph Pearce on Religious Complexity in the Ukraine Conflict
John Couretas’s link today to the recent Christianity Today article on how Russian evangelicals “thank God for Putin,” reminded me of this excellent post last month from Joseph Pearce on plexities of religious tribalism in the Ukraine crisis. As ought to be expected, despite the Cold War posturing of both Western and Eastern media, the situation is not as simple as East vs. West or, for that matter, good vs. evil: Regardless of the relative merits of each side’s claims...
Unemployment as Economic-Spiritual Indicator — December 2014 Report
Series Note:Jobs are one of the most important aspects of a morally functioning economy. They help us serve the needs of our neighbors and lead to human flourishing both for the individual and munities. Conversely, not having a job can adversely affect spiritual and psychological well-being of individuals and families. Because unemployment is a spiritual problem, Christians in America need to understand and be aware of the monthly data on employment. Each month highlight thelatest numberswe need to know (see...
Syrian Refugees Suffer In Cold
It is currently 3 degrees where I am. That is without the wind chill. (If you do not know what “wind chill” is, consider yourself blessed.) It is literally too cold to be outside for any length of time without danger of frostbite. And yet, I’m plaining. Syrian refugees in the Middle East have it much worse. Some three million Syrians are trying to cope with life in Lebanon refugee camps: tents with no heat, no wood to burn, little...
Russian Evangelicals, Like Most Russians, ‘Thank God for Putin’
In Christianity Today, Mark R. Elliott offers an interesting and balanced report that goes a long way to explaining why “evangelicals in Russia have e ardent fans of President Vladimir Putin because of Russia’s efforts to maintain its influence in Ukraine, its takeover of Crimea in 2014, and the widespread Russian belief that the West is to blame for the present economic woes on the home front.” I’m not a fan of Putin, but neither am I suffering from Russophobia....
Explainer: President Obama’s Proposal for Free Tuition at Community College
Yesterday, in a short, videotaped preview of his ing State of the Union address, President Obama unveiled a new proposal: Make two years munity college free for all students who meet certain eligibility standards. Here is what you should know about the proposal. What would students have to do? Students would be required to munity college at least half-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA, and make steady progress pleting their program.” What munity colleges have to do to qualify? Community colleges...
Why Human Dignity Matters in Economic Development (and Beyond)
“You have never met a mere mortal.” – C.S. Lewis God has called each of us to redemptive stewardship, crafting us in his own image that we might assume this calling in boldness and love. Thus, as we plex issues of poverty alleviation and seekto empower others on this path,we must be carefulthatourefforts affirm the dignity and destiny of the human person. As noted in the Acton Institute’s core principles, “the human person, created in the image of God, is...
The Curious Politics of Financial Insecurity
In the Federalist Papers James Madison noted that “the mon and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society.” Madison’s observations continues to be proven correct. Even factors such as whether a person has a checking or savings account is strongly correlated with nearly every measure of political engagement, including which dominant political “faction”—Democrat or Republican—they’ll identify with. But...
Stewardship Is About More Than Money
“Stewardship is far more than the handling of our money. Stewardship is the handling of life, and time, and destiny.” –Lester DeKoster and Gerard Berghoef Stewardship as a term is tossed around rather widely and routinely, and even (or especially) in church settings, its presumed definition is often surprisingly narrow. Though often used in reference to tithing, fundraising, or financial management (and rightly so), we mustn’t forget that at a more basic level, stewardship is simply about our management of...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved