With the terrible human toll from Japan’s earthquake and tsunami catastrophe only now prehended, and the grave follow on crisis at the country’s nuclear power plants unfolding by the hour, the anti-nuclear power crowd has already begun issuing statements such as the one Greenpeace put out saying that “nuclear power cannot ever be safe.” Predictably, reports Geoffrey Lean in the Telegraph, “battle lines” are being drawn: On Saturday, some 50,000 anti-nuclear protesters formed a 27-mile human chain from Germany’s Neckarwestheim...

During my seminary days at Asbury Theological Seminary, Tony Campolo spoke at a chapel service and offered a litany of denunciations of greed and corporate America. However, one thing he said especially caught the attention of a professor of mine. During his talk, Campolo equated material poverty with spiritual righteousness. Later in the day during class, while the rest of the campus was still gushing over Campolo’s visit, the professor rebuked Campolo rather harshly. He said he stood with him...

From our friends at CEF in Rochester, N.Y.: The Catholic Education Foundation, an mitted to ensuring a bright and significant future for Catholic high schools in the United States, will be hosting its biennial, day-long celebration of Catholic secondary schools on March 25 in New York City. The theme of the event will be Catholic Education – Holistic Education: A Tribute to Pope John Paul II, Promoter of Catholic Schools. Presenters will include Sr. Mary Thomas, O.P., Principal, St. Cecilia...

As a follow up to recent blog posts (here, here, and here) where rising food prices have been discussed, the most current numbers have been released. What many of us already know from visits to the grocery store is that food prices have increased dramatically. Food prices rose by 3.9 percent in the month of February, making this the largest increase since November of 1974. An article from the Associated Press explains the rise in food prices while also showing...

Metropolitan JonahJulia Duin, a veteran religion reporter, has written a profile of the embattled leader of the Orthodox Church in America, Metropolitan Jonah, for the Washington Post weekend edition. She does an admirable and fair job of not only telling us about this American-born bishop but explaining why his short tenure has sparked so much controversy within the various Orthodox jurisdictions in the United States. (Let me bring to your attention, right away, that Jonah is our plenary speaker on...

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a summary post of this kind, but there’s been a fair number of things of interest over the last week or so that are worthy of a quick highlight. So here’s an edition of the aptly named “Five Things” (HT): Carl Trueman reflects on his visit to the Acton Institute. Concerned about how his Republocrat credentials e across, Trueman says, “Despite my fears that I might be heavily outgunned at Acton, the seminar actually...

The always challenging Peter Berger has a fascinating post up on the history of Bad Boll Academy: The Academy was to have two goals: to train the laity for service to society; and to be a place for free and open discussion about problems facing the society, especially between groups (such as management and labor) which did not normally meet under such conditions.This second goal was the most innovative. The Academy was not to be a place for evangelism. Nor...

At long last, here’s the audio from our munity event. On March 10 at Derby Station in East Grand Rapids, Acton hosted an open mic discussion on “A Call for Intergenerational Justice: A Christian Proposal for the American Debt Crisis” featuring Gideon Strauss of The Center for Public Justice – one of the drafters of the statement – and Acton’s own Jordan Ballor. A mea culpa – in my effort to make sure that the equipment used to record the...

Below is the full-length version of “The Rich Young Man: The Law Versus Privilege,” an essay published in the winter 2011 Religion & Liberty. John Kelly’s essay was shortened because of space limitations for the print issue. He was passionate about sharing the full version, which he edited himself for readers of the PowerBlog. Mr. Kelly, a financial advisor, also authored a piece in 2004 for Religion & Liberty titled “The Tithe: Land Rent to God.” — — — —...

A piece in Fast Company, “Why True Grit Matters in the Face of Adversity,” focuses on the virtue of “grit” in various fields, including public lobbying and business. Dan and Chip Heath distinguish “true grit” from “hard work,” as they write: Grit is not synonymous with hard work. It involves a certain single-mindedness. An ungritty prison inmate will formulate a new plan of escape every month, but a gritty prison inmate will tunnel his way out one spoonful of concrete...