During the electoral season of 2004, philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre wrote a provocative essay titled, “The Only Vote Worth Casting in November.” In the essay he writes,

[T]he only vote worth casting in November is a vote that no one will be able to cast, a vote against a system that presents one with a choice between [X's] conservatism and [Y's] liberalism, those two partners in ideological debate, both of whom need the other as a target.

Andrew Haines, founder of the Center for Morality in Public Life, helpfully distills the essence of MacIntyre’s argument:

Read more on Is There a Moral Duty to Not Vote?…

Very often in charity and foreign aid work, we forget that the people to whom charity and aid are given are quite capable, smart and resourceful but are simply caught in difficult situations. I recently had a chance to speak with Mary Dailey Brown, the founder of SowHope. She shared with me her organization’s method of meeting with the leaders of villages and areas that SowHope is interested in helping, listening to what they have done and wish to do, before SowHope makes any suggestions. In this way, SowHope follows the lead of those who know what is needed and what assets are already in place, rather than coming in and saying, “Here’s what we’re going to do for you.”

Read more on ‘People are the number one resource, not money’…

The European Court of Justice has ruled that those who are unable to practice their religion openly are entitled to claim asylum on the continent:

In what could prove a landmark ruling for oppressed Christians, the European Court of Justice has ruled that people who are persecuted in their native countries due to their religion have the right to apply for asylum in Europe.

Read more on EU’s Highest Court Rules in Favor of Religious Refugees…

China needs to free the Bible market
Jillian Kay Melchior, AFF Doublethink Online

By creating a free market for Bibles, China could promote educated and peaceful Christianity. That, in turn, would contribute to harmonious Chinese society.

Read more on PowerLinks – 09.26.12…

It is alarmingly clear that so-called “Obamacare” has troubling implications for parents and children, not just employers with religious convictions regarding artificial birth control and abortion. According to an article in the National Catholic Register, Matt Bowman, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, Obamacare

Read more on Obamacare ‘tramples parental rights’…

World Politics Review recently interviewed Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg about the Vatican’s foreign policymaking:

WPR: What are the main policy initiatives that the Vatican is currently promoting on the international stage, and how receptive are other nations to its interests?

Read more on Samuel Gregg on the Vatican’s Role in Global Diplomacy…

Are you a risk-adverse investor? Then you may want to avoid choosing a mutual fund that’s headquartered in an area with lots of Catholics.

New research from the University of Georgia and Southern Methodist University and published in Management Science shows that the dominant local religion—whether Protestant or Catholic—significantly affects mutual fund behaviors.

Read more on Where Does Your Mutual Fund Go to Church?…

Freedom Under Attack
National Catholic Register

The recent assassination of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and the blasphemy trial of a 14-year-old Christian girl with Down syndrome in Pakistan shine a spotlight on the increasing threat to religious freedom around the globe.

Read more on PowerLinks – 09.25.12…

A recent survey contains one of the most disheartening statistics I’ve ever read: In eastern Germany the survey was unable to find a single person under the age of 28 who claimed they were “certain God exists.”

The survey was taken in 2008, which means that not a single person born after the fall of the Berlin Wall could be found who expressed no doubt about the reality of their Creator. In contrast, 17.8 of young people in western Germany are certain about God (which is still low compared to the U.S. (53.8 percent) or even Russia (28.2 percent).

In the Guardian, Peter Thompson says that some observers believe East German atheism is a form of continuing political and regional identification:

Read more on Is Folk Atheism Becoming the Dominant Religion in Europe?…

As noted already at the PowerBlog today, Sam Gregg has a fine piece on the complex relationship between law and morality, or constitutions and culture, over at Public Discourse.

As a follow-up (read the piece first), I’d like to point to an interesting aspect of James Buchanan’s advocacy of a balanced-budget amendment. As Gregg notes, Buchanan is an example of someone who thought that “America’s constitution required amending to bestow genuine independence upon a monetary authority,” or advocated for the “constitutionalization” of money. A related effort would be Buchanan’s efforts in support of a balanced-budget amendment to the American Constitution, as explored by James Alvey in his piece, “James M. Buchanan on the Ethics of Public Debt and Default.”
Read more on More on Constitutions and Culture…