Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Economics

September 05, 2013

10 Perils of Prosperity

Sustained prosperity is new and sustained prosperity for masses of people is completely unprecedented. What is sustained prosperity? It’s three or more generations of people who do not need to focus on survival or live in economic depression, but who can live comfortably even if they live paycheck to paycheck. Continue Reading...
September 05, 2013

Calvin Coolidge and the Power of Connectedness

In the latest episode of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter Robinson interviews Amity Shlaes, author of the new biography, Coolidge. Read Ray Nothstine’s review here. In the book, Shlaes makes an explicit connection between Coolidge’s rough-and-humble upbringing in Plymouth Notch, VA, and his bootstraps optimism about commerce and markets. Continue Reading...
September 05, 2013

To Restore the Dignity of Work, Look to Pastors Instead of Politicians

For Labor Day weekend, Peggy Noonan wrote a column pointing to the critical connection between the spiritual value of work and the moral strength of our culture. But as Greg Forster notes, her “search for a beacon of hope that can point us back toward the dignity of work, she neglects the church in favor of less promising possibilities.” Continue Reading...
September 03, 2013

Does the Protestant Work Ethic Exist?

Over 100 years ago sociologist Max Weber coined the term “Protestant work ethic” to describe how in some Puritan-based Protestant traditions hard work and frugality are a constant display of a person’s salvation in the Christian faith, in contrast to the focus upon religious attendance, confession, and ceremonial sacrament in the Catholic tradition. Continue Reading...
September 03, 2013

Should We Subdue Our ‘Dominion’ Enthusiasm?

The topic of mankind’s “dominion” over God’s created order is one that has been misunderstood by entire generations of Americans in the last half century. Many conscientious people of faith worry that the traditional Judeo-Christian values system in the West has dropped the ball when it comes to the environment and our usage of natural resources. Continue Reading...
August 30, 2013

Should Christians Oppose the ‘American Dream’?

The concept of the American Dream can cause a fair amount of tension within the church, says Drew Cleveland. Some have gone as far as to make the American Dream a concept against which the church ought to be opposed: The concern that this dream can be misused is not wholly invalid. Continue Reading...
August 27, 2013

Obamacare: Elitist And Inefficient

NRO’s Mark Steyn minces no words when it comes to his distaste for Obamacare: “a hierarchy of privileges,” he calls it, along with “crappy” and “inefficient.” First, Steyn points out that it’s doubtful anyone has read the “comprehensive” health care act: it’s a thousand pages long. Continue Reading...