Acton Line

Cultural American ideologies, which were historically influenced by Christian beliefs, have continued to deteriorate throughout the years. Faith in politics, rather than having a theological perspective, continues to grow aggressively. While our country is greatly divided, American culture turns to ideological politics for a solution. Shadi Hamid, senior fellow at the center of middle east policy at the Brookings Institution calls it, “religion without religion” in an article titled, "America without God," published in the Atlantic. America without God  Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam Is Reshaping the World  Lyman Stone on the decline of religiosity in the United States  What’s driving the decline of religion in America? Secular education  Pastors less concerned as religious liberty declined: Poll  Subscribe to Acton Institute Events podcast  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We bring you a conversation between Acton’s Director of Communications, Eric Kohn, and the Jack Miller Family Foundation’s Director of Freedom Initiatives, Rabbi Jonathan Greenberg. In this episode, they discuss a new surge in antisemitic violence in America as tensions between Israel and Gaza continue to grow. Jews have been beaten in broad daylight, synagogues have been vandalized, pro-Israel demonstrations have resulted in riots, and major cities across the Unites States have experienced explosive growth in antisemitic attacks. Journalist Bari Weiss wrote in her new article, “We saw them on Thursday, when pro-Palestinian protesters threw an explosive device into a crowd of Jews in New York’s Diamond District. We saw them on Wednesday, when two men were attacked outside a bagel shop in midtown Manhattan. We saw them on Tuesday, at a sushi restaurant in West Hollywood, when a group of men draped in keffiyehs asked the diners who was Jewish, and then pummeled them. And in a parking lot not far away, when two

We bring you a conversation between Acton’s Director of Communications Eric Kohn and Congressman Peter Meijer, who took office in January as the representative for Michigan’s 3rd congressional district, and recently visited the Acton Building. They discuss bipartisanship, leadership, the often counterintuitive incentive structure that exists in the US Congress and much more. Representative Peter Meijer Subscribe to Acton Institute Events podcast   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Does hard work pay off? Do workers enjoy the fruits of their labor? Can a child living in poverty grow up to be financially successful? These are the questions Dr. Michael R. Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, answers in his new book, The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It). Populists on both sides of the political aisle routinely announce that the American Dream is dead. According to them, the game has been rigged by elites, workers can’t get ahead, wages have been stagnant for decades, and the middle class is dying.  This rhetoric is dangerous and wrong. Dr. Strain shows that on measures of economic opportunity and quality of life, there has never been a better time to be alive in America. Markets, populism and a fading American dream – Acton Institute PowerBlog  The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It) - Book AEI - American Enterprise Institute  Subscribe to Acton Institute Events podcast   Hosted on Acast. See acast.c

Police reform, police training, foot pursuit policy, how to comply, lack of parenthood, and why we are so preoccupied with race. It’s been a year since the death of George Floyd and a lot has changed and a lot hasn’t. Dr. Anthony Bradley from King’s College presents effective solutions on how we can promote human flourishing in black communities. Acton Line podcast: Anthony Bradley on George Floyd, police reform, and riots  When police get it wrong (repeatedly): The rule of law and police reform  How Christians should think about racism and police brutality  Derek Chauvin guilty, but riots will hurt Minneapolis for generations  Subscribe to Acton Institute Events podcast   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Acton Line brings you a conversation with Dylan Pahman and Alexander Salter. Pahman is a research fellow here at Acton Institute and serves as executive editor of our Journal of Markets and Morality. Salter is an associate professor of economics at Texas Tech University, and research fellow of the university's Free Market Institute.  In this episode they discuss the relationship between money and liberty. In his article, The American Tradition of Ordered Liberty, Salter writes that “The United States is an experiment both in revolutionary freedom and communal virtue. In other words, our public institutions reflect an ongoing quest for ordered liberty. Without understanding the sources of ordered liberty, we cannot come to grips with our own institutions.” This “source of ordered liberty” is found in the four pillars that Russell Kirk writes of in his book, Roots of The American Order. The first pillar is Jerusalem where we derive our Judeo-Christian tradition. The second is Athens with our classical Greek int

Today, we’re bringing you a conversation between our director of communications, Eric Kohn, and Nate Hochman about young conservatives and what’s happening today on the young right. Nate is a Publius Fellow at the Claremont Institute, a previous contributor to Acton’s Religion & Liberty magazine, and, in my opinion, one of the sharpest and most interesting voices among the young conservatives out there. This episode is a little different from previous episodes of Acton Line in that it’s much more a conversation between Nate and Eric than the typical interview we host. We hope that you find it interesting and revealing about where some of the intellectual energy is amongst young conservatives, what’s informing how they see the world, the state of the nation and of American culture, and how they think our national political and cultural problems should be addressed. Toward a Conservative Environmentalism - Nate Hochman  Nate Hochman on Twitter (@njhochman) Is Critical Race Theory un-American? Rise of the nation

In this episode we speak with Helen Raleigh on her new book, Backlash: How China’s Aggression has Backfired. This book sets out to provide a comprehensive overview of China’s domestic and international aggressions and how they overplayed their hand. We discuss China’s actions in the South China Sea, their cultural tyranny with their social credit system, oppressive international trade, and their handling of the Covid-19 outbreak.  Raleigh was born and raised in communist China, and has 1st hand experience of the cultural and political changes and the socialist experiments that millions of Chinese people had to endure - including her family. In her book she writes, “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) likes to compare itself to the sun. The party has wielded the power to determine the life and death of over one billion people for more than seventy years and is resolved to maintain such control for many more years to come. No matter how many skyscrapers arise in China, no matter how much China’s economy has shift

Adam Smith once said, “Every man, as long as he does not violate the laws of justice, is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest in his own way, and to bring both his industry and capital into competition with those of any other man.” In this episode, Acton brings you a conversation with political scientist and scholar, Dr. Donald Devine and Eric Kohn, director of communications here at the Acton Institute. Devine’s new book, The Enduring Tension: Capitalism and the Moral Order, is a much needed commentary on the sustaining nature of morality and the free market.  Devine states that in order for free markets to thrive, there are two missing components: morality and tradition. In his book, Devine writes, “The moral assumptions of the Western traditional mythos, in which individuals have been created free and equal, are indispensable to legitimizing a pluralist, federalist, traditionalist, capitalist society with free markets and localized powers under a limited central state — a society where liberty an

Acton Line brings you a conversation with theologians Darrell Bock and Jonathan Armstrong, and Dan Churchwell -- Acton’s director of program outreach. In this episode, they discuss the pros and cons of virtual reality and its impact on Christian worship. Bock and Armstrong recognize that the world is changing faster each day as we discover new ways of navigating this seemingly infinite digital space. According to the World Economic Forum, we are entering into a Fourth Industrial Age. This age is characterized by a fusion of technologies that blur the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.  In their book, Virtual Reality Church, Bock and Armstrong layout a strategy on how to joyfully communicate the teachings of Jesus Christ through disruptive technologies in this new digital age. They examine how this can affect how we worship in person, but also how we can leverage virtual reality to evangelize the Christian faith where many are persecuted. Virtual Reality Church is a guide on how to in

What is the difference between propriety and virtue, and how does this relate to the constant abuse of free speech we see today? According to economist and philosopher, Adam Smith, propriety is the extent to which our actions accord with social expectations; which themselves are subjective and you could say are relationally determined. Virtue, on the other hand, is the extent to which an action is well-intended and the extent to which it produces that intended result.    Acton Line brings you a conversation with Acton Institute’s Dylan Pahman, research fellow, and Eric Kohn, director of communications.  Pahman is also the managing editor of the Journal of Markets and Morality, a peer reviewed academic journal published by The Acton Institute, that promotes intellectual exploration of the relationship between economics and morality from both a social science and theological perspective.    In this episode, they discuss free speech, the cancel culture, and the difference between propriety and virtue. Journal of

We are bringing you a conversation with Trent Horn, staff apologist for Catholic Answers, and Eric Kohn, the director of communications here at Acton. In this episode, they discuss Horn’s new book, Can a Catholic be a Socialist? Horn explains that, “Societal injustices are the result of deeper moral evils like greed, envy, indifference, and selfishness. However, simply reordering society so people aren’t poor can’t eliminate these vices (and doesn’t solve poverty, either).”  Some Catholics who claim to be socialists look at government as an altruistic solution - if done correctly - to solve all the world's problems with their infinite resources and boundless regulation. This simply just isn't the case. Horn writes that “Governments are really just groups of individuals who have been given weighty responsibilities. Those individuals are not immune to the effects of vice; in fact, the temptations that government officials face make them more susceptible to sin and the magnitude of the problems they face make th

In this episode, Acton Institute president and co-founder Rev. Robert Sirico joins John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, to discuss Mackey’s new book, “Conscious Leadership.” This conversation was part of Acton Institute’s Business Matters online conference. Leading experts and CEOs discussed the current challenges, and ethical principles needed for businesses to thrive in the midst of COVID-19, civil unrest, and political turmoil. A conscious leader, as Mackey defines it, is one who’s more conscious of their purpose, emotions, and what motivates them to move forward in a successful direction with their business. He says that “business people create the most value in the world more so than any government in history.” A conscious leader creates value for their customers, employees, suppliers, investors, and communities. He furthers his point by saying that “there should be no contradiction between purpose and profit, as they belong together.” Mackey, also the author of “Conscious Capitalism”, explains the benefits

In this episode, we are bringing you a conversation with Stephanie Slade, the managing editor of Reason Magazine, and Eric Kohn, the director of communications here at Acton. In this episode they discuss the philosophy of fusionism.    Slade writes that Fusionism is the marriage of two value sets: liberty & virtue. “Liberty - in the classical sense of freedom from aggression, coercion, and fraud; and virtue - in the Judeo-Christian sense of submission to God's commands.” In this unifying value set, we can see fusionism as a “distinct philosophical orientation unto itself.”   Rather than a tug of war between two philosophies which we see played out today, fusionism introduces the idea that liberty and virtue should have never been separated. With Fusionism, we see this unbreakable bond between these two philosophies. Thus people can freely choose to live out their individual rights and freely live out the teachings of Christianity.   The founding fathers believed that virtue and liberty were, according to Slad

To listen to economic nationalists, national conservatives and certain politicians, you would believe that we’re in a period of mass deindustrialization. Employment in American manufacturing has been declining since the early 1980s. And manufacturing’s share of the economy has been declining since 1970. These trends, they argue, pose not just social and economic challenges to the country, but national security challenges, as well. The response from some political leaders in Washington is arguments for increased economic protectionism, tariffs, and subsidies to shore up the American manufacturing sector and the support people who work in it. But is deindustrialization really happening? In this episode, we speak with Scott Lincicome, senior fellow in economic studies at the Cato Institute, about his new paper: “Manufactured Crisis: ‘Deindustrialization,’ Free Markets, and National Security.” In it, Lincicome argues that the data paint a picture of the American economy and manufacturing base that is strong and r

On February 17, 2021, conservative radio broadcaster Rush Limbaugh passed away at the age of 70. From his humble origins as a rock music DJ in Cape Girardeau, MO, Rush rose to become one of the most recognizable names and voices in radio history, media history and of the modern American political scene. Enabled by the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, The Rush Limbaugh Show went national in 1988, bringing Rush and his “Excellence in Broadcasting” network to radios from coast to coast. At its peak, the program was heard on over 600 radio stations and attracted more than 20 million listeners a week.A cheerleader for conservative causes, Rush was no stranger to controversy. Indeed, in many ways he courted it by, in his own words, illustrating absurdity by being absurd. In doing so, he inspired derision from his opponents as well as the loyalty of his listening audience. What is the significance of Rush Limbaugh to American conservatism and what influence did he have our modern political culture? In this e

Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and governments across the country ordered most businesses closed, people have increasingly turned to online services like Amazon to meet their needs. As a result, Amazon’s sales soared as the company reported a 37% increase in revenue in the third quarter of 2020, with total revenues north of $96 billion. This, in turn, has led to some increased scrutiny on people like outgoing Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, whose personal net worth increased by at least $28 billion since the onset of the pandemic. Voices like former Clinton administration labor secretary Robert Reich have pointed to this growth in personal wealth, complaining that despite this massive increase in their personal wealth, they have refused to provide paid sick leave, raises, hazard pay, and more to their employees, who are all suffering real hardships. But is this an accurate picture of what is happening? In this episode, we speak with David Hebert, director of the Center for Markets, Ethics and Entrepreneurship and ch

As we look around the country and the world, we see towering barriers are holding millions of people back, and institutions that should help everyone rise that are not doing the job. We see crumbling communities and one-size fits all education. Businesses rig the economy. Public policy stifles opportunity and emboldens the extremes. As a result, this country is quickly heading toward a two-tiered society. People are looking for a better way. In the new book, “Believe in People: Bottom-Up Solutions for the Top-Down World,” authors Brian Hooks and Charles Koch contend that today’s challenges call for nothing short of a paradigm shift – away from a top-down approach that sees people as problems to be managed, toward bottom-up solutions that empower everyone to realize their potential and foster a more inclusive society. Such a shift starts by asking: What would it mean to truly believe in people? In this episode, we speak with Brian Hooks, CEO of Stand Together and co-author of “Believe in People.” In the book,

Over the course of two weeks in January 2021, the stock price for GameStop – the brick-and-mortar video game retailer – rose by a shocking 1,500 percent. Suddenly, a handful of hedge funds who had shorted GameStop’s stock, betting that the stock price would go down, found themselves the victim of what’s called a short squeeze. What made this wild ride on Wall Street different is that the short squeeze was organized and coordinated by retail traders, primarily on online chat forms like Reddit and Discord, and executed on retail, commission-free investing apps like RobinHood.  What actually happened in the GameStop short squeeze? Are there are identifiable heroes and villains in this story? In what way is this a financial manifestation of our populist political moment? And, how particularly should Christians think about this market rollercoaster? In this episode, we talk with David Bahnsen – the founder, managing partner, and chief investment officer of The Bahnsen Group – to simply and clearly explain the Game

The question of how to reconcile our faith and our work is a permanent challenge after the fall into sin.  In the Hebrew scriptures we read that God judges Adam: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.” Recent years have seen a reinvigorated discussion, and even a broad movement, focused on the intersection of faith and work in the modern world.  What does our worship have to do with our work? And what might our work have to do with our worship?  Today, Acton senior research fellow Jordan Ballor talks with the coauthors of a new book focused on these questions. Matthew Kaemingk is assistant professor of Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary and Cory Willson is Jake and Betsy Tuls Associate Professor of Missiology and Missional Ministry at Calvin Theological Seminary, and together they are the authors of Work and Worship: Reconnecting Our Labor and Liturgy. Matthew Kaemingk - Fuller Theological Seminary Cory Willson - Calvin Theo