Growing up on the east side of Michigan, I still remember the jingle for the law offices of Sam Bernstein. How could I not? mercials were everywhere and so were the faces of him and, later on, his children who joined the law firm. Turn on the TV or radio and you will quickly encounter a similar sort mercial for a law firm in your area. Search the web and you will find dozens of local firms. petition is fierce:...

In a new article for theWSJ, writer William McGurnwrites that while Pope Francis and the Vatican have stubbornly resisted speaking out against Venezuela’s regime, a recent uprising in Venezuela pushed the Vatican to finally admit “profound concern.” When the Pope and the Vatican criticize America however, ments seem much more incendiary. To explain the Pope’s attitude of inattention so far given to Venezuela’s regime, McGurn quotes Acton Institute’s Director of Research, Samuel Gregg:“Venezuela’s crisis doesn’t fit into Pope Francis’s standard...

We live in a society that is prone to an increasingly utilitarian and consumeristic way of thinking, a mindset that can quickly pollute our imaginations when es to work, vocation, and economics. For some, vocation and work are primarily about self-interest and status, a mechanism for gaining power, influence, and wealth that may, in turn, lead to other mutual value. Yet this is nowhere near the beginning or end of our role as Christians within the economic order. As human...

Note: A few weeks ago I asked why conservative Christian outlets areincreasingly promoting socialist ideas and policies. My friend Jake Meador weighed in to help provide some perspective on this trend. Jake himself is the editor of an online Christian magazine—Mere Orthodoxy—that would be described as traditionalist conservative. While he is not a socialist, he admits he is somewhat sympathetic to the “emerging leftism” of young Christians, especially those within Catholic and evangelical circles. Jake and I have been carrying...

Note: This is post #44 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. As industry’s output increases, what happens to costs? Alex Tabarrok of Marginal Revolution University look at three options: an increasing cost industry, a constant cost industry, and a decreasing cost industry. (If you find the pace of the videos too slow, I’d mend watching them at 1.5 to 2 times the speed. You can adjust the speed at which the video plays by clicking on “Settings” (the...

“What life experiences would best prepare Jesus for his later public ministry,” ask Klaus Issler, “for his distinctive divine-human role as Messiah and Savior of the world?” We might think being born into a priest’s family would provide an excellent heritage for the Messiah, which was the life situation for Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptizer (Luke 1:5–17). Days could be devoted to studying Scripture, prayer and daily access to the temple precincts. Yet Jesus came into a layperson’s family, devoting...

It was with great interest that I have been following exchanges related to the now well-discussed article that appeared in the Vatican associated journal La Civilta` Cattolica several weeks ago. Written by Fr. Antonio Spadaro, SJ and Rev. Marcel Figueroa, a Presbyterian minister, the former being the editor of La Civilta` Cattolica while the latter is the editor of the Argentine edition of the Holy See’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano. In their essay, they outline in vigorous terms their concern...

A pastoral letter recently read in Catholic pulpits across Poland highlights the real and pressing problem of alcoholism. In it, the bishop called for plete suppression of alcohol advertising and for a significant price increase to reduce consumption. But there are strong reasons to believe its proposed policies could make matters worse, writes Marcin Rzegocki, who lives in Poland, inhis most recent essayfor Religion & Liberty Transatlantic. “The great responsibility of the state is not only to make wise and...

Josh Herring teaches history at a secular, classical academy – but as with all teachers, sometimes he learns valuable lessons from his students. As high school students at theThales Academyprogress from studying ancient cultures to modernity, they invariably tell him they are struck by one principle that sets the Judeo-Christian West apart from previous civilizations. In a new essay for Religion & Liberty Transatlantic, Herringwrites: In ninth and tenth grades, students study the ancient and classical world. They track the...

Kishore Jayabalan, the director of Istituto Acton, Acton Institute’s Rome Office, recently appeared on EWTN Rome to discuss a controversialarticlepublished by La Civiltà Cattolica and approved by the Vatican. The article depictsAmerican Christians as “fanatics who are creating division”. Jayabalan explainsthat “the only reasons it has drawn so much attention are that its authors are known to be close friends of Pope Francis and thatLa Civiltà Cattolicais essentially vetted by, and therefore unofficially representative of the views of, the Vatican’s...