Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'culture'

August 02, 2010

Salary and Significance

During a recent conversation, a Chinese friend of mine commented on the lack of political involvement that she has observed in her peers, especially in comparison to American college students. She attributes this lack of involvement to the fact that the Chinese do not believe that political action can change the policies or even the identities of their leaders. Continue Reading...
July 22, 2010

Finding the Balance: Privacy and the Civil Society

This week’s commentary by Rev. Gregory Jensen. Sign up for Acton News & Commentary here. Finding the Balance: Privacy and the Civil Society by Rev. Gregory Jensen Privacy in our culture has come to serve not a deepening of community life but an ever deeper sense of social isolation.  Continue Reading...
June 30, 2010

AU: Rousseau, Love, and Perpetual Adolescents

Since reading Rousseau raises a questions on almost innumerable topics, you can imagine that the Q&A after a lecture I gave on Rousseau was broad and varied. Among other things, love, family, and problems with relationships and maturity within modern liberal culture were a recurring theme. Continue Reading...
June 29, 2010

Intellectuals and Society

Daniel Mahoney, professor of political science at Assumption College and lecturer at this year’s Acton University, (find his lectures here) wrote an excellent review in City Journalof Thomas Sowell’s new book, Intellectuals and Society. Continue Reading...
June 22, 2010

Government and the Good Life

In preparing for an Acton University lecture last week on Christianity and Government (you can listen to it here)[audio:http://bonhoeffer.acton.org/acton_media/mp3/2010-6-16_Miller.mp3] I was reflecting on some of the core differences between a Christian vision of government in comparison to modern, secular visions. Continue Reading...
April 07, 2010

Acton Commentary: Reading it Wrong – Again

Can you discern a nation’s spirit, even its economic genius, from the literature it produces? That’s long been a pastime of literary critics, including those who frequently see the “original sins” of Puritanism and capitalism in the stony heart of Americans. Continue Reading...
February 09, 2010

Acton Lecture Series: Does Capitalism Destroy Culture?

Topic: Does Capitalism Destroy Culture? A talk by Michael Miller. When: Thursday, February 18, 2010. 11:45 a.m. Registration; 12:00 p.m. — 1:30 p.m. Lunch & Lecture Cost: $15 Admission $5 Students (including lunch) Where: Water’s Building — 161 Ottawa Ave, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 Map it. Continue Reading...
January 26, 2010

The Audacity of the Savior State

The current issue of Touchstone magazine features an impressive cover essay by Douglas Farrow, Professor of Christian Thought at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. In “The Audacity of the State,” Farrow uses the biblical Ichabod motif to examine the crumbling pillars of the family and church, which when properly respected form critical foundations for a flourishing society. Continue Reading...
December 10, 2009

MTV’s Wack Morality

On Dec. 3, MTV announced the launch of “A Thin Line,” a multi-year initiative aimed at stopping the spread of abuse through sexting, cyberbullying and digital dating. MTV says that the goal of the initiative is to empower America’s youth to identify, respond to and block the spread of the various forms of digital harassment. Continue Reading...