This morning we opened the final day of GodblogCon 2008 with an exclusive premiere of the Acton Institute’s new documentary, The Birth of Freedom.

I had occasion to think about one of the more compelling parts of the film when I came across this blog post from Justin Taylor. JT shares a section from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s address at Western Michigan University, December 18, 1963.

A key point:

But we must go on to say that while it may be true that morality cannot be legislated, behavior can be regulated. It may be true that the law cannot change the heart but it can restrain the heartless. It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me but it can keep him from lynching me and I think that is pretty important, also.

In a word, the state does have an indispensable role to play in promoting justice, and when it fails to do its job Christian citizens have their own responsibility to call it to its task.

Prof. Robert P. George of Princeton University observes in The Birth of Freedom that it is patently false to think that faith plays no positive role in public life, a position promoted by the New Atheists and popularized by the likes of Bill Maher. George urges us:

Think of what a scandal it would be if we were to say the abolitionists should have kept their Christian faith out of the struggle against slavery. Rev. Martin Luther King should have kept his Christian faith out of the struggle for civil rights. People who fought against the terrible crimes committed in the name of eugenics should have kept their faith out of politics.

The film was well received by the Godbloggers, and there was a great deal of interest in how it fits into Acton’s work and how the film could be passed along to friends, family, and colleagues. We’re grateful to GodblogCon for the opportunity to present this feature to an important audience.


Bloggers should also be aware that we offer a special opportunity to attend Acton University, which will next be held from June 16-19, 2009. Program details will be announced in November, but you can get more information and contact details for Kara Eagle at the Acton University page. Inquire about blogger scholarships and ask to be included on the list of those invited to apply.

The first full day of programming at GodblogCon 2008 has begun, and the first session was from Andrew Jones, “The Missional Church in the Internet Age.” There was a marked contrast in attitudes towards new media between Jones’ (missional) talk and the following session, led by Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio. I think John may have more to say on this later.

But before Jones’ presentation, conference director Dustin Steeve announced that GodblogCon qua GodblogCon will be no more after this year. The first page of the attendee packet proclaims that “GodblogCon is coming to an end.” Indeed, “beginning October 2009, something new is coming....”

What do the GodblogCon administrators have in mind? Expansion of the focus of the conference beyond blogging (and by extension podcasting, vlogging, microblogging, and social networking). The plan seems to include turning GodblogCon into “the premier web media conference of the year to help Christians advance the kingdom through web technologies.”

The idea, which I think is a sound one, is that blogging and other particular forms of new media are simply a part of the interaction between faith and web technology in the 21st century. In my view, GodblogCon should remain a particular track in a larger conference that focuses on Christianity and the Internet.

I’m curious to see what all this will mean for GodblogCon’s relationship other events, particularly this year’s host BlogWorld & New Media Expo, but also other events like BibleTech. Hopefully we’ll hear more about the transition from GodblogCon to a new Christian web media conference as the weekend progresses.

We are one week away from the beginning of GodblogCon 2008. For the second year in a row the Acton Institute is a sponsor of the event, and we’re proud be be a part of the premier gathering of bloggers and new media connoisseurs. Other sponsors include the founding institutions behind GBC, Biola University and the Torrey Honors Institute. Crossway Books & Bibles, which is publishing the forthcoming Stewardship Resource Bible, is also a sponsor of the event (Acton research scholar Stephen Grabill is general editor of the Stewardship Resource Bible).

Part of our task as a sponsor of the event is to come up with an ad for the attendee booklet, which will go out to all GBC participants. As a PowerBlog exclusive, we’re unveiling this ad here today, inspired by the LOLord Acton Quote Generator.


We’re also working on some exciting last minute plans with the GBC team, so keep the PowerBlog bookmarked for the latest news on GodblogCon 2008. Check out the GBC schedule and speaker list, and register now to attend this dynamic gathering.

GodblogCon 2008 is two weeks away. The Acton Institute is a proud sponsor of this event, held in conjunction with the BlogWorld & New Media Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center, September 20-21.

The conference will be a great opportunity to connect with bloggers and internet figures you’ve only read about or corresponded with in a virtual environment. You’ll also have the opportunity to attend valuable sessions and learn the basics of blogging, vcasting, and how social networks work.

I found last year’s event to be really stimulating and it energized me for weeks and months afterward. If it fits into your schedule, you should really consider attending. Check out the website for more details about the schedule of events and roster of speakers.

Next week, in anticipation of the event, the PowerBlog will unveil its conference program ad...try to maintain your composure as the excitement builds.

By almost any measure, the first Right Online conference, as part of the Defending the American Dream summit in Austin, TX, has to be judged a success.

The organizers of the event weren’t sure quite what to expect. How many bloggers and new media folks would attend? On the first day the summit organizers had to rely on special support given by the hotel because initially there were not enough lunches available...there were so many more people in attendance than they had expected or even hoped.

Later in September a second Right Online summit will happen in New Jersey, followed by a national summit in Washington, DC on October 10-11.

In a key way the conservative movement is behind the curve, both in comparison with the progressive political movement and the Christian blogging community, but better late than never. While this year’s summits are the first of their kind and scope amongst political conservatism, last year the Acton Institute was a sponsor of GodblogCon, a conference for Christian bloggers and new media professionals and hobbyists. This year we’ll be supporting the fourth annual GodblogCon to be held in Las Vegas, NV on September 20-21.

The Acton Institute is an important bridge between these oft-overlapping constituencies. It’s our hope that through greater involvement with the conservative movement we can bring the importance of religious and moral formation to the forefront of that discussion, and that through our engagement with the Godbloggers we can broaden the influence and profile of religious new media. (Here’s a brief flashback from last year’s GodblogCon that gets at how these two phenomena intersect: “Giuliani and the Godbloggers.”)

As is so often the case, politics gets plenty of mainstream press coverage, while religion gets short shrift. Perhaps we can start to change that from both sides, showing how religion is an important aspect of responsible and comprehensive political coverage, and how religion itself is worthy of more and better press attention. Here’s a sample of old media coverage of this first Right Online summit:

• Laylan Copelin, “Conservative convention adds new-media component,” Austin American-Statesman, 11 July 2008.
• Jose Antonio Vargas, “In Texas, the Right Boots Up to Gain Strength Online,” Washington Post, 18 July 2008.
• Amy Schatz, “In Online Politicking, Republicans Play Catch-Up,” The Wall Street Journal, 18 July 2008.
• Kate Phillips, “Texas Boot Camp for Bloggers on the Right,” The New York Times, 18 July 2008.
• Kate Phillips and Michael Falcone, “The Early Word: ‘Tex Roots’,” The New York Times, 18 July 2008.

An excellent talk by from the Media Research Center, “Understanding and Critiquing Old Media,” opened today’s afternoon session at Austin’s Right Online summit. The speakers clarified some basics about journalism, such as the fact that typically reporters don’t write their own headlines (copy editors do) or that there is an unofficial reporter’s code of ethics from the Society of Professional Journalists.

A good deal of the talk revolved around consistent forms of bias found in the media, most of which are monitored closely by MRC’s watchblog NewsBusters. An archetypal form of bias by ignorance that exists in the media, often manifesting itself in bias by labeling, has to do with the mainstream coverage of religion.

The signature authority on this form of media bias is GetReligion, whose name is taken from William Schneider’s observation that the press “just doesn’t get religion.” A great example is the most recent GR post on the media’s constant politicization of statements from the pope and other Vatican officials, a theme we’ve long covered in this venue.

These sorts of online outlets represent a huge shift in the conversation about media. The word can now get out if there are errors, intentional or otherwise, in media coverage. Quotes taken out of context can be shown in their original form. Letters to the editor can be posted online whether or not the original source chooses to acknowledge them. New media is an important form of “citizen” journalism.

One question I have is whether or not citizen journalists should recognize and respect the “off the record” phenomenon that is a hallmark of professional journalism. If nothing is ever off the record now, I think there’s a dangerous possibility that such a reality will impoverish public discourse and create an environment of cynicism and opposition. There’s a reason that ability to speak “off the record” arose in the fourth estate and I don’t think we should simply cast it off as an antiquated relic without serious reflection.

One of the other key differences between old and new media is the form that authority, influence, and celebrity take in the latter. See, for instance, New York mag’s “The Microfame Game” and Vanity Fair’s Blogopticon.

The Sam Adams Alliance hosted a session titled “Samsphere” here in Austin, Texas at the Defending the American Dream conference. After a brief biography of American Founder Samuel Adams, discussions turned to improving networking and message organization for individuals and groups committed to freedom and political liberty.

In a nutshell, the purpose of Samsphere is to network pre-existing bloggers together into single or shared networks. The Sam Adams Alliance also spent much of their discussion focusing on the importance of strengthening the grassroots aspect of community activism. The Chicago based thinktank also promoted their new web project, Blogivists.

Additional discussion was related to comparisons of conservative and libertarian online groups with the grassroots effectiveness of groups such as Daily Kos and MoveOn.org. We also had group discussions about how ideological differences play into the different organizational components of the political right and left, which led into discussions about the motivation and objectives of online activism.

By contrast with the Netroots Nation agenda, there are no sessions devoted to how faith relates to political conservatism. The absence of the faith element in this discussion is a reminder of just how well-positioned and unique the Acton Institute is within the broader community calling for limited government. During the session we were able to connect with a writer from the Reagan Coalition. Also, Erick Erickson from RedState.com dropped by and offered some helpful comments on limited government, election strategy, and organizational technique.

The PowerBlog is well-represented this weekend at the Defending the American Dream Summit in Austin, Texas. Ray Nothstine and I have made the trek to Texas to engage and learn from a variety of organizations seeking to bring the power of new media to bear on the conservative movement.

The Americans for Prosperity Foundation and RightOnline are the major sponsors of the Texas summit, which features keynote addresses from Barry Goldwater Jr. and Robert Novak, as well as talks by John Fund of the WSJ, Erick Erickson of RedState.com, and Michelle Malkin.

One of the purposes of the summit and a special focus of the Sam Adams Alliance is to get state policy thinktanks in touch with local bloggers, as part of an effort to get tap into the dynamism of grassroots web media. If all politics are local, than new media efforts of thinktanks need to connect to the particular knowledge and insight of state and local bloggers.

Last night the Texas Public Policy Foundation hosted a barbecue social. I talked with David Guenthner, director of Media and Government Relations, and he told me about a tool they had developed, TexasBudgetSource.com, to make government expenditures across the state more transparent. This is a remarkably powerful concept that has the potential to be duplicated in other states to galvanize attention to issues of government spending, accountability, education reform and more.

Also happening across town is the annual Netroots Nation, a large gathering of progressive and liberal new media activists.

The schedule for this year’s GodblogCon has been announced. Building on our involvement last year, the Acton Institute is again sponsoring this unique event. As a think tank committed to exploring the dynamic connection between theology and economics, the Acton Institute is proud to be a part of the innovative evolution of dialogue in a digital age. At this year’s Acton University, we had the pleasure of welcoming a number of bloggers who covered the event.

The dates for this year’s GBC are September 20-21, and will be held in conjunction with the BlogWorld & New Media Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The BlogWorld expo features media powerhouses like Townhall.com, Technorati, and Pajamas Media. See APM’s Future Tense for more about the economic clash between old (content) and new (linking) media.

If you’re a Facebook user, you can join the GodblogCon group here. And while you’re at it, be sure to become fans of the Acton Institute.

We had a very active week on the blogosphere during this year’s Acton University. The daily round-ups are linked below, as well as updated links to summary and reflective posts written after the conference’s completion. Many of our bloggers have been inspired to produce a series of reactions in the days and weeks following this year’s events.

• Troy Camplin at Interdisciplinary World,
  1. “Acton U. -- A Brief Summary (and Table of Future Contents).” Troy concludes, “Even if the sessions weren’t as great as they were, it would have been worth going just to meet all the people I met.”
  2. “Thoughts on Human Dignity (Sirico).”
  3. “What is Freedom For?”
  4. “Against Nominalism.”
  5. “A Few Thoughts on Reason.”
• Robbie Miller at Toss me another Dewiser,
  1. “Subsidiarity and Serving the Poor.” Robbie promises to offer a series of upcoming posts related to AU.
• Brittany Hunter at Behind Infinity,
  1. “Acton University, An Inside Perspective.” Brittany, a recently-hired Acton Institute employee, provides an “insider’s” look at the goings-on last week.
• Anthony Bradley at The Institute,
  1. “Acton University.” Dr. Bradley gives us a brief AU faculty perspective.
• Jay Lafayette at the Shotgun Blog at the Western Standard,
  1. “Rent Control means less affordable housing for the poor.” Jay writes about the “healthy dose of free-market thinking” he got from this year’s AU, highlighting talks by Lord Brian Griffiths and Jay Richards.
• Anneli at Off the Coast of Kansas,
  1. “The Birth of Freedom.” Anneli writes, “The Acton University was an excellent conference and might have even changed my life.”
  2. “Acton University 2008: Lecture Audio.”
• Brett Kunkle and Alan Shlemon at the Stand to Reason blog,
  1. “Do Evangelicals Think About Economics?” Brett says AU “was fantastic training and an area where Evangelicals need to give more attention.”
  2. “Another Plug for Acton.” Alan writes, “Acton is an excellent organization to help broaden the minds of Christians in the area of economics and our Christian faith.”
• AU08 Blogger Round-Ups,
  1. Day 1
  2. Day 2
  3. Day 3

If you’ve posted your thoughts on Acton University 2008 and we haven’t noted it above, kindly drop us a line in the comment boxes below.