Posts by Rev. Ben Johnson
January 03, 2020
As a new decade begins, it bears pausing to celebrate the strides the human race has made toward eradicating poverty at home and around the world. This is doubly important, as the television retrospectives not only omit our growing prosperity, but so many people believe things are actually getting worse. Continue Reading...
January 03, 2020
The musical entrepreneurship behind the ‘Hallelujah’ Chorus
Although it was intended to be an Easter composition, the “Hallelujah” Chorus from Handel’s Messiah has become the musical diadem of the Christmas season. It has already in early January vanished from the radio, because the modern West pre-celebrates all its holidays. Continue Reading...
January 02, 2020
Did Domino’s exploit you by selling $30 pizzas on New Year’s Eve in Times Square?
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio began 2020, the year he intended to become president, by asserting that Domino’s Pizza “exploited” New Year’s Eve revelers in Times Square by selling pizzas for $30 apiece. Continue Reading...
December 31, 2019
The state of human freedom in 2019
Did liberty increase or decrease in each nation, and globally, in 2019? How has the last decade impacted freedom around the world?
The Cato Institute measures the freedom of each nation in the world and publishes the results. Continue Reading...
December 27, 2019
10 economic lessons from ‘Emmett Otter’s Jugband Christmas’
Jim Henson’s beloved Emmett Otter’s Jugband Christmas first entered the hearts of Canadian children in December 1977 and made its U.S. debut on HBO one year later. The musical Muppet adventure tells the story of widow Alice Otter and her tenderhearted son, Emmett, who decide the only way they can afford Christmas presents this year is to win a talent competition – with an exacting entrance fee. Continue Reading...
December 23, 2019
Clarence Thomas on the harmony of faith and reason
In the Christmas season, the secular West begrudgingly nods toward its faithful past. Yet amidst the darkness, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas joined with one the nation’s most distinguished colleges to highlight the compatibility of faith and reason. Continue Reading...
December 23, 2019
The government funds U.S. farmers – and their competitors
When government becomes sufficiently large, its impact on private citizens is not just harmful; it’s self-contradictory. U.S. policy toward dairy farmers offers a poignant example.
Joseph Sunde recently explored one aspect of U.S. Continue Reading...
December 20, 2019
Wine caves or fox holes?
The sixth Democratic primary debate featured seven presidential hopefuls and four references to wine caves. The candidates’ rhetoric should bring the issue of wealth and political power into greater clarity than a Swarovski crystal. Continue Reading...
December 19, 2019
Explainer: What was in the Queen’s Speech of December 2019
On Thursday, December 19, 2019, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II delivered her 66th Queen’s Speech. The speech – which followed her last Queen’s Speech by just two months – set out the policy agenda of the newly emboldened Prime Minister Boris Johnson for this term of Parliament. Continue Reading...
December 18, 2019
Acton Commentary: How socialism causes atheism
Most socialists have been atheists, but does accepting socialist economic principles make believers more likely to become atheists? This week’s Acton Commentary, which is the cover story of the newest issue of Religion & Liberty, explores survey data and anecdotal evidence that a socialist worldview can lead believers to lose their faith. Continue Reading...