syria – Acton Institute PowerBlog

July 19, 2016

Standing with the oppressed during Captive Nations Week

On July 17, 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued a proclamation declaring the third week of July “Captive Nations Week” for that year and every year “until such time as freedom and independence shall have been achieved for all the captive nations of the world.” Continue Reading...

April 17, 2016

Pope’s ‘sad journey’ to Lesbos challenges EU Immigration Policy

Pope Francis’ words to journalists on board the charted flight yesterday to the Greek island of Lesbos struck an emotional chord: “It is a sad journey,” he said. “We are going to see the greatest humanitarian tragedy after World War II.” Continue Reading...

March 16, 2016

U.S. House unanimously passes bill declaring Islamic State guilty of genocide

UPDATE: (3/17/16) United States: Islamic State committed genocide against Christians, Shi’ites. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry: “The fact is that Daesh kills Christians because they are Christians. Yazidis because they are Yazidis. Continue Reading...

December 04, 2015

Letter from Rome: Paris and the Progressive Denial of Reality

In his book Living the Truth, the German Thomist Josef Pieper presents the following thesis: All obligation is based upon being. Reality is the foundation of ethics. The good is that which is in accord with reality. Continue Reading...

November 24, 2015

Welcoming the Refugee: Living in the Tension of Christian Hospitality

As debates about the Syrian refugee crisis bubble and brim, we continue to see a tension among Christians between a longing to help and a desire to protect. As is readily apparent in BreakPoint’s wonderful symposium on the topic, Christians of goodwill and sincere Biblical belief can and will disagree on the policy particulars of an issue such as this. Continue Reading...

November 21, 2015

Syrian Refugees and the Arab Spring

We’re having an intense, often heated, debate about the reception of Syrian refugees in the United States. How do Eastern Christians see it? The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, an Archdiocese of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, has issued a balanced and unflinchingly critical statement on the crisis. Continue Reading...

September 30, 2015

Radio Free Acton: Samuel Gregg and Todd Huizinga on the EU’s Refugee Crisis

On this edition of Radio Free Acton, Acton Institute Director of Research Samuel Gregg and Director of International Outreach Todd Huizinga discuss the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe, the strain that the crisis is putting on the European Union, and what the likely long-term impact of the crisis will be. Continue Reading...

September 17, 2015

The Bishop’s Candlesticks: Immigration, Refugees, and Justice

The media is buzzing with chatter about immigration and the heartbreaking refugee crisis in the Middle East. Yet even as we learn more about the types of suffering and oppression that these people are fleeing, the temptation to look inward remains. Continue Reading...

August 17, 2015

More on Romania and Human Trafficking

PowerBlog readers will have noticed a strong, and from my point of view justified, negative reaction here to Elise Hilton’s Aug. 11 post titled, “The Lost Girls of Romania: A Nation of Sex Trafficking.” Continue Reading...

May 18, 2015

How to Help Syrian Refugees

I attended an informative — and very moving — presentation yesterday on the humanitarian relief effort underway in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The talk was given here in Grand Rapids by Mark Ohanian, director of programs for International Orthodox Christian Charities (see my podcast with him here). Continue Reading...

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