Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'benedict xvi'

Pope Benedict XVI: 1927-2022

“I would like to ask you all for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who is supporting the Church in silence. Remember him—he is very ill—asking the Lord to console him and to sustain him in this witness of love for the Church, until the end.” Continue Reading...

6 ways to combat consumerism

The Gospel reading on Sunday was the story of Lazarus and the rich man. I often refer to this parable in discussions about poverty, because Augustine points out that it was not wealth that sent the rich man to hell, but his indifference. Continue Reading...

Pope Francis on ‘fake charity’

At the recent Vatican meeting of Catholic Charities Pope Francis praised the participants for their concern for the poor and marginalized, but warned them of the danger of “fake charity.” Carol Glatz writes in Catholic Herald: Charity is not a sterile service or a simple donation to hand over to put our conscience at ease,” he said. Continue Reading...

How to think like a Christian

Here is a podcast interview I did recently with my friend Matt Leonard, host of The Art of Catholic and Next Level Catholic Academy. Matt and I talked about some of the foundational ideas of Christian thinking in contrast with the dominant secular way of seeing the world.  Continue Reading...

Is behavioral economics blind to its blindness?

I find some of the work of behavioral economists, especially that of Daniel Kahneman to be very interesting and important. Thinking Fast and Slow is essential reading. His distinctions between what he calls Type I and Type II thinking is very insightful, and the broad critique that human beings don’t always act like rational maximizers is a correct. Continue Reading...

Joshua Berman on whether the Exodus happened

This is the season of Jewish Passover and Christian Easter (or Pascha.)  This is the time when Jews recall how God passed over their homes and spared their first born, led them dry shod across the Red Sea and saved them from slavery in Egypt.  Continue Reading...

The search for transcendence

Yesterday a short video, originally posted by Forbes a few months ago, popped up in my browser. Called “Finding Meaning Through Travel,” it discusses several people who have supposedly found their calling in a life of travel and exotic pursuits. Continue Reading...

Google and surveillance capitalism

Business Insider reported last week that Google failed to disclose the existence of a microphone in their home security system, NestSecure. This came as a surprise to many Nest customers who complained that they were not informed that the security system even had a microphone. Continue Reading...