Rev. Ben Johnson is Executive Editor of the Acton Institute's flagship journal Religion & Liberty and edits its transatlantic website.
Posts by Rev. Ben Johnson
February 20, 2017
On Wednesday, February 15, the European Parliament approved the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a free trade agreement abolishing most trade restrictions between the European Union and Canada. Negotiators hammered out the 1,600-page agreement over the course of seven years before Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European Council President Donald Tusk signed CETA last October 30.
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February 17, 2017
Like all of Europe, Poland is suffering from a steep demographic crisis. Despite a relatively large (European) population and an expansive land mass that serves as a bridge between Europe and Asia, Poland has a fertility rate lower than that of China – a nation that only recently relaxed its One-Child Policy.
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February 16, 2017
Despite persistent caricature, corporate titans do not always view government regulators as enemies; they often see them as unwitting collaborators. Big business and the regulatory state go hand-in-hand, according to Michael Gove, a Conservative Party Member of the UK’s Parliament.
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February 15, 2017
St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg is one of the tens of thousands of churches seized, shuttered, or destroyed following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Instead of leveling it – the fate of so many other houses of worship – the communists turned the architectural wonder into a Museum of Atheism, then a museum in its own right.
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February 10, 2017
Retired soccer legend David Beckham was denied knighthood in 2013 after British authorities flagged him for “tax avoidance,” according to a new story in the
Telegraph. Beckham had invested in Ingenious Media, a company that supported the British film industry – and also allowed investors to write off their losses.
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February 09, 2017
In an age of sound bite orations and 140-character manifestos, the nation received a rare treat from CNN this week. On Tuesday night, Senators Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders debated the merits of national healthcare reform for two hours.
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February 03, 2017
In the West, we have no trouble conceiving of freedom as a means. Freedom, in this context, is defined as increased liberty to order my life with the maximum level of autonomy consistent with a well-ordered society.
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February 02, 2017
Watching the unfolding violence and chaos at UC-Berkeley last night, I could not help but think of two people: August Landmesser and Zacchaeus, the reformed tax collector from the Gospel of St.
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February 01, 2017
Perhaps the most utilitarian function of any intellectual journal is to exchange successful policies. Bad ideas cross borders, even oceans, but thankfully good ideas do, too. President Donald Trump’s most recent executive order to curtail federal regulation is one such example.
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January 30, 2017
Together with his appointment of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, yet another Trump administration official has ties to the Acton Institute. The
Washington Free Beacon reported today that President Trump has appointed Victoria C.
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