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.

Posts by Rev. Ben Johnson

Why are schools closed? Unions and partisanship, study finds

On Monday, children across the nation ceased giving thanks as they returned to school after their extended holiday break. However, millions more would rejoice if they had that opportunity (as would their parents), an opportunity that a new study finds they are denied not on the basis of science, but by the brawn of union strength and political pressure. Continue Reading...

How to give thanks in 2020

Thanksgiving in 2020 seems to be an oxymoron. What good can we celebrate in the year that witnessed an ongoing global health pandemic, an artificial economic crisis, and the largest federal budget deficit in U.S. Continue Reading...

5 ways to talk about politics peacefully

This year, some families have little reason to give thanks, because political arguments have turned the holiday dinner table into a war zone. Friends, even relatives have cut ties with people who don’t share their political perspectives. Continue Reading...

Even Bernie Sanders opposed the gas tax

As an estimated 50 million Americans plan to travel for Thanksgiving holiday celebrations, politicians across the U.S. and Europe have introduced legislation to increase the gasoline tax. Legislators should listen to an outspoken foe of those taxes: Sen. Continue Reading...

AOC’s blacklist has no place in the workplace

Economists and ethicists agree: A worker should be evaluated by the job he does, not his political views. But the more politicized life becomes, the greater the chance a competent employee will lose his or her job because of his private political views. Continue Reading...

Americans agree with Alito: Religious liberty shouldn’t be canceled

The COVID-19 pandemic has further eroded America’s already flagging support for religious liberty, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito warned in a prophetic speech to the Federalist Society. Alito’s critics described his clarion call to respect our nation’s first freedom as “charged,” “unusually political,” and “unscrupulously biased, political, and even angry.” Continue Reading...

Deutsche Bank’s work-from-home tax is economic insanity

As if 2020 could not get any worse, this week intellectuals unleashed another pandemic: a new proposed tax. Deutsche Bank suggested that the government lay a 5% “privilege” tax on employees who work from home, on the grounds that they “disconnect themselves from face-to-face society.” Continue Reading...