Rev. Ben Johnson (@therightswriter) is an Eastern Orthodox priest and served as Executive Editor of the Acton Institute (2016-2021), editing Religion & Liberty, the Powerblog, and its transatlantic website. He has extensively researched the Alt-Right. Previously, he worked for LifeSiteNews and FrontPageMag.com, where he wrote three books including Party of Defeat (with David Horowitz, 2008). His work has appeared at DailyWire.com, National Review, The American Spectator, The Guardian, Daily Caller, National Catholic Register, Spectator USA, FEE Online, RealClear Policy, The Blaze, The Stream, American Greatness, Aleteia, Providence Magazine, Charisma, Jewish World Review, Human Events, Intellectual Takeout, CatholicVote.org, Issues & Insights, The Conservative, Rare.us, and The American Orthodox Institute. His personal websites are therightswriter.com and RevBenJohnson.com. His views are his own.
Posts by Rev. Ben Johnson
February 28, 2020
Proponents of massive government programs like Medicare for All often present their schemes as though there were no alternative to state intervention. Thankfully, a life-affirming, healthcare practice shows that the free market has a superior answer about how to care for vulnerable women and their babies.
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February 28, 2020
Bernie Sanders’ reflexive defense of Marxist dictators has raised concerns literally left and right. Democrats on the considerable space to his right worry that Sanders’ apologies will cost them the election, while leftists worry his rhetoric will cause people to equate socialism with tyranny.
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February 27, 2020
Bernie Sanders faced political crossfire during the debate in South Carolina on Tuesday night, some of it because he lavished praise on Communist dictators in Cuba, Russia, and Latin America. This week’s Acton Commentary, “The key to understanding Bernie Sanders,” details his history of moral equivalence between Marxist dictators and Western democracies – and explains the socialist reasoning that fuels it.
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February 25, 2020
A particularly harmful Obama-era labor rule, designed to fill union coffers while harming small business owners, is coming to an end. In a rule to be published tomorrow, the National Labor Relations Board upholds common sense and balances the scales of justice.
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February 20, 2020
The media have written Michael Bloomberg’s political obituary since his performance in the NBC Democratic debate on Wednesday night, but he has experienced a series of damaging leaks since he entered the presidential race.
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February 18, 2020
A new chapter of the state’s oppression of religion in the Balkans began last December, when the socialist government of Montenegro passed a law allowing the government to strip a longstanding, recognized church of its property and potentially transfer it to another sect under more amenable leadership.
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February 14, 2020
Joaquin Phoenix has been rightly lambasted for his acceptance speech at the 2020 Academy Awards, in which he lent the weight of his celebrity to stamping out the grave evil of domesticating cattle.
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February 13, 2020
On Monday, President Donald Trump released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2021. The proposal touches on every area of economic activity, from taxes to spending, to regulation and the value of work.
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February 12, 2020
In an increasingly polarized political environment, where purity of intention substitutes for successful results, some public commentators have gone so far as to say that questioning the efficacy of raising the minimum wage to $15 a hour mocks God Himself.
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February 05, 2020
President Donald Trump delivered the 2020 State of the Union address on Tuesday night, the ninety-seventh to be given in person and the third of his presidency. In addition to touting a booming economy and highlighting the heroism of the Tuskegee Airmen and other groundbreaking Americans, the president attacked socialism, in the U.S.
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