A Digital Scriptorium on Mt Sinai

The Egypt Independent has a fascinating account of the process underway now to digitize the first-millennium manuscripts housed at St. Catherine’s Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula. Writer James Purtill interviewed the librarian, a native Texan named Father Justin, about the task of preserving thousands of priceless books and the new library under construction, which he hopes to write about on the monastery blog when it opens. Continue Reading...

Os Guinness on Separation of Powers

I recently finished the advanced copy of Os Guinness’s A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future. I posted a previous excerpt on the topic of virtue in a free republic a couple of weeks ago. Continue Reading...

What is ‘Meaningful Work’?

Telling young people that some jobs are menial, says Thomas Sowell, is a huge disservice to them and to society: It was painful, for example, to see an internationally renowned scholar say that what low-income young people needed was “meaningful work.” Continue Reading...

Rev. Robert Sirico and Jordan Ballor on The RJ Moeller Show

RJ Moeller of “Values and Capitalism,” an American Enterprise Institute initiative, recently hosted two Acton Institute staffers on his podcast, The RJ Moeller Show. First, president and co-founder kicks off the segment with a self-introduction and a discussion of his new book Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy. Continue Reading...

Commentary: The Power of Market-Driven Diversity

In this week’s Acton Commentary (published May 30), Anthony Bradley argues that racial discrimination is no match for the power of competition: “While companies were free to discriminate against blacks it was not in their economic interests to do so because, at the end of the day, every company’s favorite color is green.”  Continue Reading...

Does God Always Side With the Poor and Oppose the Rich?

Does God side with the poor and oppose the rich? Glenn Sunshine looks at what the Bible says about the issue: So why are the poor described as blessed? The issue isn’t poverty per se, but rather the attitude of humility and reliance on God that it can produce in us, which is why Matthew’s version of the beatitude isn’t just “Blessed are the poor,” but “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Continue Reading...

Audio: More on ‘Defending the Free Market’

Acton President Rev. Robert A. Sirico continues to promote Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy on radio and television across the country; today’s roundup of media includes two radio interviews on west coast radio stations, starting with host Brian Sussman on the KSFO Morning Show in San Francisco, California: [audio:http://bonhoeffer.acton.org/acton_media/mp3/2012/2012-05-29_Sirico-1.mp3] Continue Reading...

Sandel’s Flawed Philosophy

Rev. Sirico’s new book is not the only recent entry on the topic of markets and morality (though from comparing reviews, it may be the best). Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel also examines the subject in What Money Can’t Buy. Continue Reading...