Religion & Liberty Online

A ‘wonderful world’ greets us in 2019

Just after the ball drops in Times Square in New York City, it has become a traditional to follow the singing of “Auld Lang Syne” by playing Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” No song could better capture the prosperous world that greets 2019, writes Philip Booth, Ph.D., in an essay posted today on the Acton Institute’s Religion & Liberty Transatlantic website.

Booth relates a number of statistics that show the world has improved and shows signs it will continue improving — before noting how the average person in the West is radically misinformed about the underlying issue. He writes:

[O]pinion polls suggest that the view that our world is going to hell in a handcart is widespread. When opinion polls are conducted on almost anything from world poverty rates, literacy rates amongst girls in poor countries to life expectancy in poor countries, answers are given that are miles away from the truth and always in the direction of greater pessimism.

He goes on to analyze why Western Christians seem determined to find crises in the place of progress. His essay gives us a reason to start off 2019 with (informed and cautious, but) renewed optimism.

You can read his full article here.

(Photo credit: Kevin Gill. This photo has been cropped. CC BY 2.0.) 

Rev. Ben Johnson

Rev. Ben Johnson (@therightswriter) is an Eastern Orthodox priest and served as Executive Editor of the Acton Institute (2016-2021), editing Religion & Liberty, the Powerblog, and its transatlantic website. He has extensively researched the Alt-Right. Previously, he worked for LifeSiteNews and FrontPageMag.com, where he wrote three books including Party of Defeat (with David Horowitz, 2008). His work has appeared at DailyWire.com, National Review, The American Spectator, The Guardian, Daily Caller, National Catholic Register, Spectator USA, FEE Online, RealClear Policy, The Blaze, The Stream, American Greatness, Aleteia, Providence Magazine, Charisma, Jewish World Review, Human Events, Intellectual Takeout, CatholicVote.org, Issues & Insights, The Conservative, Rare.us, and The American Orthodox Institute. His personal websites are therightswriter.com and RevBenJohnson.com. His views are his own.