Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'George Washington'

January 29, 2014

Religious Liberty and the Loss of our Roots

If the American Founding got one thing right more than anything, it was its commitment to a broad and liberal religious liberty. In 1790, President George Washington told a Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, “The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy; a policy worthy of imitation.” Continue Reading...
December 11, 2013

7 Great Books for Christmas

This short list of books is meant to avoid the obvious works one might find in a Christmas list. So I’ve omitted great works like A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Continue Reading...
July 03, 2013

Celebrating the Things of the Spirit

Each Independence Day, I make a point of re-reading President Calvin Coolidge’s speech given on the 150th anniversary Declaration of Independence. I’d encourage you to do the same. Coolidge has a deep understanding of American history, and after contemplating what led the founders to write what they wrote, and what inclined Americans to follow their lead, he ultimately concludes that it was their spiritual inclinations, and the moral and spiritual orientation of the American people, that played the most important role: Our forefathers came to certain conclusions and decided upon certain courses of action which have been a great blessing to the world. Continue Reading...
February 22, 2013

Governing as Crisis Manager-in-Chief

George Washington knew a thing or two about leadership during a crisis. Arguably one of the greatest military leaders in modern history, he was chosen as president of a new nation, one with a idealistic notion of liberty. Continue Reading...
February 18, 2013

George Washington’s Example on Religious Liberty

For George Washington’s birthday, Julia Shaw reminds us that the indispensable man of the American Founding was also an important champion of religious liberty: All Presidents can learn from Washington’s leadership in foreign policy, in upholding the rule of law, and—especially now—in the importance of religion and religious liberty. Continue Reading...
March 06, 2012

Religious Liberty, Rhetoric, and Partisan Squawking

Concerning the HHS mandate, somehow getting lost in the shuffle is the primacy of religious liberty. Mollie Hemingway offers a good post at Ricochet on the media blackout. Certainly, political partisanship and lust for power is clouding the centrality of the First Amendment. Continue Reading...