Acton Commentary

August 06, 2013

Detroit’s Civil Society and the DIA

Photo Credit: Patrick Hoesly via Compfight cc Following up on last week’s proposal and discussion about the future of the Detroit Institute of Arts in the midst of the city of Detroit’s ongoing budgetary woes, arts commentator Terry Teachout penned a piece for the WSJ about the need for Detroit’s leaders to step up: “Protecting Detroit’s Artwork Is a Job for Detroit.” Among other things, Teachout writes, “Any argument to keep Detroit’s masterpieces in Detroit has got to make sense to Detroiters who think that pensions are more important than paintings.” Teachout goes on to explore a couple such arguments, but the most salient point is that Detroiters themselves are the best ones to make such arguments. Continue Reading...

July 31, 2013

The DIA, Public Art, and the Common Good

In today’s Acton Commentary, “It’s Time to Privatize the Detroit Institute of Arts,” I look at the case of the DIA in the context of Detroit’s bankruptcy proceedings. One of my basic points is that it is not necessary for art to be owned by the government in order for art to serve the public. Continue Reading...

June 26, 2013

Commentary: Can America Remain the Land of Religious Liberty?

There is little doubt that America is moving further away from the kind of broad and liberal religious freedom that was championed during the founding period. In terms of intellectual thought, that period was certainly the high water mark for religious liberty around the globe. Continue Reading...

June 12, 2013

Commentary: The Progressive Captivity of Orthodox Churches in America

Rev. Johannes L. Jacobse looks at what was behind the criticism of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary’s partnership with the Acton Institute on a recent poverty conference. He points out that some who adhere to the “ancient faith” of Eastern Orthodoxy have very left-leaning ideas about economics and politics. Continue Reading...

May 31, 2013

Progressivism’s Presuppositions

The more I read of Thomas Sowell’s latest book, Intellectuals and Race, the more I am persuaded that the era of progressivism may have been just as damaging to the history of black progress in American than the Jim Crow era. Continue Reading...

May 29, 2013

Commentary: A Heart for the Poor — and a Mind for Economics

Isn’t it time that young evangelicals reject economics lessons from “the well-intentioned 38-year-old alum who is super liberal and carries clout with the student body because he listens to the same music as the kids he works with”? Continue Reading...

May 09, 2013

Video: This is Angola

Yahoo! Sports recently posted this interesting video about the Angola Prison Rodeo. In the Volume 22, Number 3 issue of Religion & Liberty, Ray Nothstine had a chance to go to Angola and interview Burl Cain, the longest serving warden. Continue Reading...

May 08, 2013

Tim Riggins’ Gift

In this week’s Acton Commentary, I explore the dynamics between gift, gratitude, and stewardship. The proper response to a gift that has been given is gratitude, and the proper expression of gratitude comes in faithful stewardship. Continue Reading...

May 01, 2013

Commentary: Young, Entrepreneurial, and Pursuing Good Art in Hollywood

“We need people on the inside,” writes R.J. Moeller from Los Angeles. “We need talented actors, musicians, editors, and screenplay writers who can stake a claim for a differing worldview than that of HBO, David Geffen, and whoever wrote Milk.” Go West, young conservative! Continue Reading...

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