The New Martyrs

People light candles below a wooden cross at a site south of Moscow where at the height of Josef Stalin’s political purges 70 years ago firing squads executed thousands of people perceived as enemies of communism. Continue Reading...

‘Capitalist Calling’

The Washington Times reviews Acton’s Call of the Entrepreneur today in an article titled “Capitalist Calling”: The Acton Institute hopes the documentary will crush the popular myth of business as a “zero-sum game.” Continue Reading...

Keep Cool with Coolidge

A new film titled “Things of the Spirit,” takes a fresh look at the life and presidency of Calvin Coolidge. Coolidge, understandably, received renewed interest during the Reagan era of American politics. Continue Reading...

‘I Am Not Afraid of Death’

Alexander Solzhenitsyn Der Spiegel has published a far ranging interview with Alexander Solzhenitsyn in which the great writer “discusses Russia’s turbulent history, Putin’s version of democracy and his attitude to life and death.” Continue Reading...

Romney’s Religion

Michael Gerson’s “What Matters About Romney’s Religion” in today’s Washington Post: There is a long tradition of American leaders who believe that religion is so personal it shouldn’t even affect their private lives. Continue Reading...

Bulgaria embraces flat tax and freedom

The speaker for the Seventeenth Acton Institute Annual Dinner is former Estonian Prime Minister, Dr. Mart Laar. One of the economic reforms Laar implemented in Estonia was a flat tax. After what was described as a brilliant economic turnaround, other countries have followed Estonia’s lead on flat tax policies and free market policies in general. Continue Reading...

‘Coerced, Perfunctory, and Unreflective Patriotism’

Here’s the text of a letter sent this morning to the editor at Woman’s Day magazine (don’t ask why I was reading Woman’s Day. I read whatever happens to be sitting in the rack next to our commode): Paula Spencer’s commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance (“Pledging Allegiance,” September 1, 2007) sounds incredibly McCarthy-esque. Continue Reading...

Affirmation Blankets

Just when you thought America’s Rogerian culture of prostrated self-worship couldn’t get anymore nauseating…. ‘I boldly ask for what I want!’ ….Enter, the Affirmation Blanket. I am almost reluctant to give these people more publicity, but this is way too funny to pass up. Continue Reading...

Tony Snow in CT

In the July issue of Christianity Today, White House spokesman Tony Snow offers a moving account of his struggle with colon cancer in “Cancer’s Unexpected Blessings.” Snow, who delivered the keynote speech at the 2001 Acton Annual Dinner, wrote this in response to CT’s question about “the spiritual lessons he has been learning through the ordeal.”: Continue Reading...