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.” ...

“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:10 NIV). According to The Christian Post, “On May 22, churches in several parts of the world are planning to hold ‘No Bible’ services where The Bible, even hymn books, over-head-projector slides, or anything else containing Scripture, will be locked away from view.” The purpose is to illustrate the state of Christians and others across the globe,...

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, in his former role as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was more focused on the theological implications of political heresies such as liberation theology than he was on questions of economics. Yet Benedict has written eloquently on the subject of markets and morality, as this 1985 presentation at a Rome conference amply shows. In a paper titled Market Economy and Ethics, he affirms that “market rules function only...

Visit Fox News for this exchange between John Gibson and Richard Thompson, president of the Thomas More Law Center, about charges of religious intolerance in the military. Here’s a key part of the discussion: GIBSON: But, Mr. Thompson, I know you’re in this business, so you would be hypervigilant about this. And we all know how this cadet structure is. The seniors have enormous power over lower cadets. Do we have a situation where senior cadets who are Christians are...

An editorial in today’s New York Times attests to the severely myopic lens through which the editorial board views the world. In “A Better Way to Fight Poverty,” the editorial effusively praises a United Nations program for its work in showing how “direct aid can largely bypass governments, getting money and help straight into the hands of the people who not only need it the most, but also know what to do with it.” Direct aid? Since when are ANY...

Christian Post columnist R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, pares business schools and theological seminaries, which are both “tempted to redefine their mission in strictly academic terms.” In explicating a recent study published in the Harvard Business Review, Mohler passes on the conclusions about the trend among business schools, “Today, it is possible to find tenured professors of management who have never set foot inside a real business, except as customers.” Mohler writes...

And that’s apparently a bad thing: “Researchers say that more solar energy arriving on the ground will also make the surface warmer, and this may add to the problems of global warming.” Note also that this article states that the cleaning of the earth’s skies coincided with “the collapse munist economies and the consequent decrease in industrial pollutants.” ...

As was noted in an earlier post, talk-radio host and friend of the Acton Institute Laura Ingraham was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Her website is now reporting some promising news following her most recent surgery: This afternoon, Laura went back into surgery for a further “cleaning of the margins” around the original breast tumor. Dr. Katherine Alley excised a few more millimeters of tissue, and she drained the recurrent “golfball” (Laura’s term, not Dr. Alley’s) of liquid that had...

Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ in his earthly life shared our toil and hallowed our labor: Be present with your people where they work; make those who carry on the industries merce of this land responsive to your will; and give to us all a pride in what we do, and a just return for our labor; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and...

The official in charge of governmental relief funds in Indonesia is “shocked” at the lack of reconstruction progress in the Aceh province, fully five months after the Indian Ocean tsunami. BBC News reports that Kuntoro Mangkusubroto primarily blames bureaucratic wrangling for the delays. “There is no sense of urgency,” he said. Meanwhile private funding continues to flow freely as NGOs effectively implement their relief efforts. Visit Acton’s Tsunami Guide to Effective Giving for information about how your money can help...

This BBC Newshour story (RealAudio) following on the first Rolls-Royce automobile purchased in India in fifty years contains some interesting analysis about the state of the Indian economy. Citing the liberalization of the economy beginning in 1991, Indian diplomat Pavan Varma states that “the number of people below the poverty line have been reduced fairly dramatically.” This in spite of the protestations of the interviewer, Claire Bolderson, that the gap between rich and poor illustrates “quite a contradictory picture that’s...