Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Acton Occasional Series

Discussion Question: What Makes Insider Trading Wrong?

For most of my life, much of what I’ve learned about the world came from watching movies. This was especially true in 1983, when I was in junior high. That was the year I learned about astronauts (The Right Stuff), thermonuclear war (War Games), and ewoks (Return of the Jedi). Continue Reading...

5 Facts About Christmas

Christmas is the most widely observed cultural holiday in the world. Here are five factsyou should know about the annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus: 1. No one knows what day or month Jesus was born (though some scholars speculate that it was in September). Continue Reading...

Explainer: Christmas 2015 by the Numbers

As the most widely observed cultural holiday in the world, Christmas produces many things — joy, happiness, gratitude, reverence. And numbers. Lots of peculiar, often large, numbers. Here are a few to contemplate this season: $39.50 – Average amount U.S. Continue Reading...

5 Facts About the Bill of Rights

Today is Bill of Rights Day, a commemoration first established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to cherish the ‘immeasurable privileges which the charter guaranteed’ and to rededicate its principles and practice.” Continue Reading...

5 Facts About Black Friday

Today is the unofficial first day of the holiday shopping season. Here are five facts you should know about “Black Friday.” 1. The term “Black Friday” was coined by the Philadelphia Police Department’s traffic squad in the 1950s. Continue Reading...

5 facts about the Gettysburg Address

Today marks the 152nd year anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Here are five facts about one of history’s most famous — and famously brief — speeches: 1. The Gettysburg Address was not written on the back of an envelope. Continue Reading...