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.
Posts by Rev. Ben Johnson
March 27, 2018
A few months ago, a group of protesters decided to vent their frustration by screaming into the sky. Trying to encourage theologians to understand the fundamentals of economics before preaching about the subject sometimes feels just as productive.
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March 20, 2018
Former Russian intelligence agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia are clinging to life after being attacked with nerve gas in Salisbury. British Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson plan to target the finances of Russian oligarchs in retaliation.
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March 19, 2018
On Monday afternoon, David Davis of the UK and Michel Barnier of the EU revealed that their governments had agreed on the shape of their relationship during the first two years after Brexit.
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March 16, 2018
“Human beings are called to be fruitful, to bring forth good things from the earth, to join with God in making provision for our temporal well being,” according to The Cornwall Declaration On Environmental Stewardship, of which Acton Institute co-founder Fr. Continue Reading...
March 14, 2018
“In 1989, Communism finally collapsed,” writes Mihail Neamţu, a Romanian thinker and public intellectual, in this week’s Acton Commentary. “On our first official post-communist Christmas holiday, my family was hoping that the political landscape of Eastern Europe would quickly be shaped by healthy democratic institutions, secure private property and free trade, economic competition, as well as a robust sense of personal responsibility.”
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March 12, 2018
Modern Europe faces a future of economic stagnation and demographic decline brought on by the hollowing out of its self-confidence. These impending calamities reached the crisis point at precisely the moment the continent faces an unprecedented influx of migrants who share none of its leaders’ epistemological angst.
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March 08, 2018
President Donald Trump is scheduled to announce new steel and aluminum tariffs from the White House at 3:30 p.m. local time.
What is President Trump going to announce?
Trade officials have said the president will impose across-the-board tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum, which will go into effect between 15 and 30 days from now.
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March 06, 2018
The UK government has crafted an educational mandate for religious schools that Sohrab Ahmari at
Commentary calls “Orwellian.”
Under the proposal, all schools would be required to teach children from age 4 and up “age-appropriate” content that includes information about same-sex marriage and transgenderism.
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March 05, 2018
Last night,
Coco joined the elite group of animated films to win a “grand slam”: the Golden Globe, BAFTA, the Annie Award, and an Oscar. Neither of the victories at last night’s 90th annual Academy Awards came as a surprise – fans have dubbed the Best Animated Feature Film category “the Pixar award” – but the blockbuster’s plot touches on how the free market rewards or rebuffs unethical practices, how technological progress brings justice, and the eternal significance of vocation and memory.
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March 01, 2018
As the UK beds down for the night, it is blanketed with government alerts that traveling out into the snow-covered landscape might prove deadly – as it already has for 10 people ranging in age from seven to 75.
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