Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Effective Compassion

September 20, 2005

Charity and confidence in government

Interesting survey finding highlighted on the Heritage Foundation’s web site: Compared with peers who expressed a great deal of confidence in the federal government, those who reported having “hardly any confidence” in the federal government were 20 percentage points more likely to volunteer for a charity. Continue Reading...
September 20, 2005

Freedom from the welfare trap?

Rich Lowry: It is the other flood: The outpouring of concern for the poor of New Orleans. According to nearly every journalist in America, our consciousness has been raised about the invisible scourge of poverty in this country, and nothing is too much to ask when addressing the plight of the disadvantaged evacuees of New Orleans. Continue Reading...
September 19, 2005

Nonprofit training day in Fort Myers

Acton Institute’s Center for Effective Compassion is offering an intensive one-day event in Ft. Myers, Fla., on Oct 28, where nonprofits and community leaders will get practical, how-to skills to help them increase the “return on investment” for charity programs. Continue Reading...
September 19, 2005

Bigger is not always better

Government is the only arena in which I can readily see that incompetence and failure, often of the staggeringly ignominious variety, is “punished” with an increase of funding and influence. Many others have observed this phenomena, perhaps most pervasive in the public education system. Continue Reading...
September 14, 2005

The welfare trap

In Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, Brendon Miniter notes that many of those stranded in New Orleans after the levee breaches were literally caught in a trap set by government “assistance”: We still only have anecdotal evidence to go on, and we can be hopeful as the death toll remains far below the thousands originally predicted. Continue Reading...
September 08, 2005

Your tax dollars hard at work

FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has produced a “Kidz Rap,” designed to alert children to the dangers of disasters and the function of FEMA. For example, did you know that “mitigation is important to our agency”? Continue Reading...
September 06, 2005

Start where you are

Like everyone else outside the Gulf Coast (i.e., not a direct victim or a tireless rescue worker, volunteer, or military member there to help), the TV remote has become my constant companion. Continue Reading...
September 02, 2005

Dunn deal: A challenge for the NFL

Pro running back Warrick Dunn, a native of Louisiana, is challenging every NFL player (other than New Orleans Saints) to donate at least $5,000 to hurricane relief efforts. “If we get players to do that, that would amount to $260,000 per team. Continue Reading...
August 25, 2005

A blessing in disguise

I’ve talked before about the complexities of government funding before with regard to the abstinence-program called the Silver Ring Thing. Now, on the heels of an ACLU suit, SRT is being faced with a cut-off in federal funding. Continue Reading...