John Couretas

is a writer and editor based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Posts by John Couretas

March 22, 2016

Rev. Sirico: When politicians want your money

In the Detroit News, Rev. Robert A. Sirico, co-founder and president of the Acton Institute, offers a commentary on the two-year battle with the city of Grand Rapids over the institute’s exempt status under state property tax law (see the March 15 Acton news release, “Acton Institute Prevails in Property Tax Dispute with City of Grand Rapids” for background). Continue Reading...
March 03, 2016

Rev. Sirico on ‘Spotlight’ and Hollywood Hypocrisy

The film “Spotlight” won 2016 best picture and original screenplay Oscars but Acton Institute co-founder and President Rev. Robert A. Sirico “eviscerated the Academy for embracing ‘Spotlight’ while it celebrated a child molester in its own ranks,” according to the Hollywood gossip site TMZ. Continue Reading...
January 08, 2016

Samuel Gregg: Russell Kirk and Twentieth-Century American Conservatism

At The Public Discourse, Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg reviews Bradley J. Birzer’s new book Russell Kirk: American Conservative. The book, Gregg writes, amply shows how “Kirk’s broad scope of interests was matched by genuine erudition that enabled him to see the connections between, for instance, culture and American foreign policy, or the significance of moral philosophy for one’s commitments in the realm of political economy.” Continue Reading...
November 21, 2015

Syrian Refugees and the Arab Spring

We’re having an intense, often heated, debate about the reception of Syrian refugees in the United States. How do Eastern Christians see it? The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, an Archdiocese of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, has issued a balanced and unflinchingly critical statement on the crisis. Continue Reading...
November 12, 2015

Asking the Right Question about Poverty

Writing for a special New York Times section on giving, Alina Tugend looks at the knotty problem of how best to help those in need. She digs into things like the economics behind food pantries and how relief donations to those devastated by natural disasters often wind up making things worse. Continue Reading...