“If medieval Europe was so great, why were most medievals poor?” This is something you might wonder after viewing Acton Media’s new documentary, The Birth of Freedom. However, in this new video short, expert Sam Gregg reminds viewers that in order to make parisons regarding the living standards of peasants in Medieval Europe, we must be mindful of historical context and technological progress to that point. Acton Media’s video shorts from The Birth of Freedom are designed to provide additional...

I have safely arrived at my hotel for the weekend, my home base for this year’s GodblogCon. Tonight is the first event, an opening night dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in the MGM Grand, generously sponsored by the Family Research Council. The Family Research Council is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Congratulations to FRC on the fine work they continue to do. Be sure to visit their site and add the FRC Blog to your feed reader. John Couretas...

Shaped by the conservative movement since childhood, publisher Alfred S. Regnery offers an insider’s take on the influence of conservatives in Upstream: The Ascendance of American Conservatism (2008). Regnery’s father Henry started pany in 1947 and published conservative classics such as God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley Jr., and The Conservative Mind by Russel Kirk. Regnery covers just about everything including think tanks, publishers, candidates, religious conservatives, financial donors, the courts, the Constitution, and free markets. He...

This morning we opened the final day of GodblogCon 2008 with an exclusive premiere of the Acton Institute’s new documentary, The Birth of Freedom. I had occasion to think about one of the pelling parts of the film when I came across this blog post from Justin Taylor. JT shares a section from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s address at Western Michigan University, December 18, 1963. A key point: But we must go on to say that while it may...

The first full day of programming at GodblogCon 2008 has begun, and the first session was from Andrew Jones, “The Missional Church in the Internet Age.” There was a marked contrast in attitudes towards new media between Jones’ (missional) talk and the following session, led by Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio. I think John may have more to say on this later. But before Jones’ presentation, conference director Dustin Steeve announced that GodblogCon qua GodblogCon will be no more...

Frank J. Hanna III, Georgia CEO of Hanna Capital and cofounder of the Solidarity Foundation, is author of the new book What Your Money Means (and How to Use It Well). Hanna, a board member of the Acton Institute, talked to National Review Online editor Kathryn Lopez in a Q&A titled “Virtue and Volatility” about earning money, using it well, the market meltdown, and more. Excerpt: Lopez: What do love, virtue, and religious faith have to do with money? Hanna:...

Last week I told PowerBlog readers that we were working on a special event for the ing GodblogCon 2008. We’re announcing here that we will be holding an exclusive premiere of Acton Media’s newest documentary, The Birth of Freedom, at GodblogCon 2008. The film will be shown at the opening of the third day of the conference, on Sunday morning at 10:00am, September 21, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. We’re excited about this opportunity that is available to GodblogCon...

Pope Benedict’s visit to secular France and its reformist President Sarkozy has proved to be successful above all expectations, as reported by Vatican newspaper L’Osseservatore Romano. During his Paris homily, at the Esplanade des Invalides, the Holy Father encouraged the 250,000 faithful in attendance to turn to God and to reject false idols, such as money, thirst for material possessions and power. In his homily the Pope referred to the teachings of Saint Paul to the early munities in which...

In addition to the GodBlogCon coverage here by Jordan, I’d like to point readers to two speakers who gave thought provoking talks on the careful use of language. That is, the careful use of language in a time where language is often treated as an ephemeral or disposable thing in the service of the latest munications widget. Not really. On Saturday, Ken Myers offered “Renewed Minds Online: The Internet, Media Ecology, and the Christian Consciousness.” Myers is host and producer...

As the US-incited global financial situation continues to worsen, ever shriller assertions of blame will be cast on one culprit or another. It’s my belief that any development of this magnitude always stems from multiple and interacting causes, but that doesn’t make very good copy. Thomas Frank in the Wall Street Journal yesterday fingers deregulation (and by explicit implication the Republicans who champion it) as the criminal instigator of the financial crisis. Six weeks from election day, Frank has a...