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Many Christian congregations now offer hybrid worship services: you can worship in person or online. While these options have become extensive, our understanding of them has not kept pace. Furthermore, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence will only further complicate matters. The contemporary church needs a way to make sense of the dizzying influx of emerging …
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In their own time, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Russell Kirk occupied different ends of the political spectrum. Their philosophies inspired the two most powerful movements of the age: the Nonviolent Movement (which led the larger Civil Rights Movement) and the modern Conservative Movement. Without King and Kirk modern American Social Justice liberalism and …
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Engage the Speaker Session for “Theology of Work” (AU2021). Original Lecture description below. In this session, we will explore the biblical and theological foundations for how we view our work in God’s economy. We will argue that work has intrinsic value and nobility because of its connection to the dominion mandate in Genesis and how …
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Engage the Speaker Session for “Islam, Reason, and Freedom” (AU2021). Original Lecture description below. It is no secret today that Islam has authoritarian interpretations that reject the principles of human freedom. This includes imposing religion through state power, punishing people for “apostasy” or “blasphemy,” or degrading women or minorities. This lecture will delve into the …
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Engage the Speaker Session for “Is Democratic Socialism a Good Alternative to Capitalism?” (AU2021). Original Lecture description below. Public figures such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have fervently promoted the idea of Democratic Socialism for the last several years. But what exactly is Democratic Socialism? How does it compare with Capitalism? In this talk, …
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Engage the Speaker Session for “True Compassion: Case Studies in Effective Work with the Poor” (AU2021). Original Lecture description below. Concern for the poor is an essential part of being a Christian. Yet, Christians often don’t know how to effectively engage people who are in poverty, often coming from social and ethnic backgrounds very different …
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Engage the Speaker Session for “Transitional Justice: Civil-Society Solutions For America’s Race History” (AU2021). Original Lecture description below. Transitional justice is a set of measures and processes adopted to deal with the consequences of human dignity violations in the aftermath of regime changes, violent conflicts, wars, and other historical injustices that were derivatives of gross …
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Engage the Speaker Session for “The Economics of Digital Currencies” (AU2021). Original Lecture description below. Ever since the first Bitcoin was first mined in January of 2009, we’ve seen an ever-growing interest in the phenomenon of blockchain—the technology upon which Bitcoin is based. Blockchain is one specific form of an innovation known as Distributed Ledger …
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Engage the Speaker Session for “Flannery O’Connor and the Church’s Failure of Imagination” (AU2021). Original Lecture description below. Over the past several years, I consistently read about “diseased cultural imagination” or “failure of imagination” in areas of our public and private life: we do not imagine things as they are but our cultural lenses distort …
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Engage the Speaker Session for “The Case Against Economic Nationalism” (AU2021). Original Lecture description below. Economic nationalism is surging throughout the world and is attracting supporting from right and left. This lecture outlines the basic flaws of protectionism and industrial policy, and focuses on how they undermines the economic and political dimensions of the common …
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Ever since the first Bitcoin was first mined in January of 2009, we’ve seen an ever-growing interest in the phenomenon of blockchain—the technology upon which Bitcoin is based. Blockchain is one specific form of an innovation known as Distributed Ledger Technology (or DLT). DLT triggered a new phase of financial innovation and is already to …
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Concern for the poor is an essential part of being a Christian. Yet, Christians often don’t know how to effectively engage people who are in poverty, often coming from social and ethnic backgrounds very different from them. The temptation is to substitute reason with emotion and to offer transactional systems of care instead of the …
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This lecture provides an overview of the idea of globalization, one which challenges some of the myths surrounding this ideas, especially the myth that globalization is new. It also outlines the three primary forms assumed by contemporary globalization today, and discusses what people of faith can say about the character of globalization.
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Transitional justice is a set of measures and processes adopted to deal with the consequences of human dignity violations in the aftermath of regime changes, violent conflicts, wars, and other historical injustices that were derivatives of gross violations for the rule of law. Transitional justice is what we needed to pursue after the Civil Rights …
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Concern for the poor is an essential part of being a Christian. Yet, Christians often don’t know how to effectively engage people who are in poverty, often coming from social and ethnic backgrounds very different from them. The temptation is to substitute reason with emotion and to offer transactional systems of care instead of the …
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Transitional justice is a set of measures and processes adopted to deal with the consequences of human dignity violations in the aftermath of regime changes, violent conflicts, wars, and other historical injustices that were derivatives of gross violations for the rule of law. Transitional justice is what we needed to pursue after the Civil Rights …
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In this session, we will explore the biblical and theological foundations for how we view our work in God’s economy. We will argue that work has intrinsic value and nobility because of its connection to the dominion mandate in Genesis and how the NT describes work as part of someone’s service to Christ. We will …
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In this session, we will explore the biblical and theological foundations for how we view our work in God’s economy. We will argue that work has intrinsic value and nobility because of its connection to the dominion mandate in Genesis and how the NT describes work as part of someone’s service to Christ. We will …
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In this lecture, Dr. Jay Richards connects Aristotle’s account of happiness with modern sociological and psychological surveys of happiness, and explains how they overlap and differ. He then explores how our work, especially in a high tech information economy, can contribute to both our happiness, and the happiness of others.
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Environmental alarmists often repeat the Malthusian warning that human population growth is harmful to the planet and is unsustainable. In contrast, economists are often a bit more optimistic about human population growth. This course examines the relationship between population growth and prosperity, as well as how Austrian and other pro-population economists engaged Malthusian arguments.
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In this lecture, Dr. Jay Richards connects Aristotle’s account of happiness with modern sociological and psychological surveys of happiness, and explains how they overlap and differ. He then explores how our work, especially in a high tech information economy, can contribute to both our happiness, and the happiness of others.
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To be economically literate requires neither formal training nor advanced study. For those with the inclination, the most valuable economic principles can be understood with just a little nurturing of the so-called “economic way of thinking.” In this lecture, Sarah Estelle, Ph.D. shares how she sees the economic way of thinking as instructive in some …
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This course will examine the work and life (purpose) of Russell Amos Kirk (1918-1994) not just as the founder of post-war conservatism but also as a theological Christian Humanist, first and foremost concerned with personalism and the Incarnation. Kirk believed history should be seen as a whole, not divided into periods or dispensations. Just as …
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This course will examine the work and life (purpose) of Russell Amos Kirk (1918-1994) not just as the founder of post-war conservatism but also as a theological Christian Humanist, first and foremost concerned with personalism and the Incarnation. Kirk believed history should be seen as a whole, not divided into periods or dispensations. Just as …
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While political, economic, and intellectual freedom is a precious gift to humans, our long history shows that we are ready to give it away. Why is that? One answer might be given from the Nobel-Prize-winning Russian writer, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008): when people don’t understand and use the freedom they have, they will throw it away …
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While political, economic, and intellectual freedom is a precious gift to humans, our long history shows that we are ready to give it away. Why is that? One answer might be given from the Nobel-Prize-winning Russian writer, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008): when people don’t understand and use the freedom they have, they will throw it away …
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The idea of “the common good” is increasingly being invoked by conservatives such as Fox News’ Tucker Carlson to call for a bigger and more interventionist government. The assumption is that classical liberal values have failed to create the conditions that allow people to flourish. In theory and in practice, these claims could not be …
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The idea of “the common good” is increasingly being invoked by conservatives such as Fox News’ Tucker Carlson to call for a bigger and more interventionist government. The assumption is that classical liberal values have failed to create the conditions that allow people to flourish. In theory and in practice, these claims could not be …
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It is no secret today that Islam has authoritarian interpretations that reject the principles of human freedom. This includes imposing religion through state power, punishing people for “apostasy” or “blasphemy,” or degrading women or minorities. This lecture will delve into the formative centuries of Islam to map out the roots of the problem, while also …
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It is no secret today that Islam has authoritarian interpretations that reject the principles of human freedom. This includes imposing religion through state power, punishing people for “apostasy” or “blasphemy,” or degrading women or minorities. This lecture will delve into the formative centuries of Islam to map out the roots of the problem, while also …
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Public figures such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have fervently promoted the idea of Democratic Socialism for the last several years. But what exactly is Democratic Socialism? How does it compare with Capitalism? In this talk, much discussion will revolve around the differences between centralized and decentralized resource allocation. Additionally, the oft-mentioned example of …
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Public figures such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have fervently promoted the idea of Democratic Socialism for the last several years. But what exactly is Democratic Socialism? How does it compare with Capitalism? In this talk, much discussion will revolve around the differences between centralized and decentralized resource allocation. Additionally, the oft-mentioned example of …
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How and why does the US government promote religious freedom abroad? Is it in America’s interest, or is it just American values? And what are the internal politics of the policy debate? This course will draw not only on the presenter’s experience as a political scientist but also as a former chairman of the US …
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Some people think social justice is a twentieth century invention of left-leaning thinkers, but this starts the history of social justice midstream. To understand its true meaning, we must look farther back to its real historical origins. The first known use of the phrase “social justice” was by a Jesuit Thomist, Luigi Taparelli, in his …
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How and why does the US government promote religious freedom abroad? Is it in America’s interest, or is it just American values? And what are the internal politics of the policy debate? This course will draw not only on the presenter’s experience as a political scientist but also as a former chairman of the US …
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Some people think social justice is a twentieth century invention of left-leaning thinkers, but this starts the history of social justice midstream. To understand its true meaning, we must look farther back to its real historical origins. The first known use of the phrase “social justice” was by a Jesuit Thomist, Luigi Taparelli, in his …
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Engage the Speaker session for “Do Economic and Religious Liberty Have Anything to Do with Each Other?” – Original Lecture Description – There is a tendency to see economic freedom as less important, less fundamental, and maybe even a little disreputable as a value. This course will explore the connection between economic liberty and other …
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There is a tendency to see economic freedom as less important, less fundamental, and maybe even a little disreputable as a value. This course will explore the connection between economic liberty and other social and political freedoms with religious liberty as a special focus.
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In 2019 the Business Roundtable ambitiously sought to re-define the purpose of a corporation. Milton Friedman’s adage that the primary responsibility of a corporation is to shareholders is routinely criticized. In this lecture, David Bahnsen argues that the false dilemma of profits vs. social responsibility is a by-product of a lost understanding of Kuyperian sphere …
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Engage the Speaker Session for “Corporate Responsibility: The Politics of Pitting Profits vs. Stakeholders” In 2019 the Business Roundtable ambitiously sought to redefine the purpose of a corporation. Milton Friedman’s adage that the primary responsibility of a corporation is to shareholders is routinely criticized. In this lecture, David Bahnsen argues that the false dilemma of …
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Engage the Speaker session for “Christian Roots of Innovation in Science and Technology” The science-technology sector is often seen as a very secular sector of human work, in part because the “warfare thesis” of longstanding and essential enmity between Christian faith and the scientific enterprise is still widely assumed today (e.g. in the popular 2014 …
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Engage the Speaker session for “Adam Smith and the Idea of Virtuous Capitalists” Adam Smith is known as the founder of economics as well as the father of capitalism. But such characterizations usually miss how essential he thought morality and virtue were to flourishing societies. In fact, Smith’s work on economics is more powerful when …
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The science-technology sector is often seen as a very secular sector of human work, in part because the “warfare thesis” of longstanding and essential enmity between Christian faith and the scientific enterprise is still widely assumed today (e.g. in the popular 2014 Neil Degrasse Tyson–hosted updating of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos TV series). But the real …
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Adam Smith is known as the founder of economics as well as the father of capitalism. But such characterizations usually miss how essential he thought morality and virtue were to flourishing societies. In fact, Smith’s work on economics is more powerful when read alongside his work on morality: Capitalists benefit from virtue and virtue flourishes …
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Engage the Speaker session on Victor Claar’s “Fair Trade vs. Free Trade” While free trade has been increasingly maligned, the Fair Trade movement has become increasingly popular over the last several years and many see it as a way to help people in the developing world and as a more just alternative to free trade–which …
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In this lecture, Jay Richards, Ph.D. connects Aristotle’s account of happiness with modern sociological and psychological surveys of happiness, and explains how they overlap and differ. He then explores how our work, especially in a high tech information economy, can contribute to both our happiness, and the happiness of others.
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While free trade has been increasingly maligned, the Fair Trade movement has become increasingly popular over the last several years and many see it as a way to help people in the developing world and as a more just alternative to free trade–which many argue creates an unfair advantage that tends to harm the poor. …
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A century and a half ago, Carl Menger at the University of Vienna founded the Austrian School of Economics, personified famously and more recently by Ludwig von Mises, F. A. Hayek, Murray Rothbard, Israel Kirzner, and others. In this introductory lecture. Mr. Reed will explain the central principles and methodology of the Austrian School and …
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Income Inequality remains a pressing social and political issue in domestic and international politics. Market-based economies ensure that everyone regardless of status, political affiliation, race or gender have an opportunity-based society where they can only grow rich when they serve others. Corporate Welfare distorts the incentives of markets by inducing a culture of favoritism, public-private …
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There are competing creation “myths” about the origins of American liberty. The Jamestown, Virginia settlers of 1607 have vied with the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony in New England for dominance in America’s self-understanding of its origins. In this lecture Alan Crippen argues that these narratives have obscured the role of William Penn and his …
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In a lecture titled “Islam and Freedom: The Challenge and The Hope”, Mustafa Akyol—senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity—discusses political and social problems that exist in the Muslim world, including authoritarianism and terrorism, and the prospects for finding ways to strengthen the idea of individual liberty within the Islamic …
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The Keynesian Revolution forever changed the way we think about, teach, and learn economics. But the Keynesian approach to the world changed the broader culture as well, leaving us bereft of a clear vision of human flourishing in our economic life.
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In conformity with Nietzsche’s prophecy, the modern West is experiencing a radical desacralizing of the social order, unprecedented in world history. The great theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer described it as an era in which Westerners had learned to manage life without reference to God. American sociologist Philip Rieff refers to our era as one in which …
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In this lecture, John D. Wilsey, Ph.D. (Associate Professor of Church History at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) explores the legacy of John Foster Dulles. John Foster Dulles was Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Secretary of State from 1953 to 1959. He served in the early years of the Cold War and pursued a vigorous foreign policy …
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The greatest civilization of ancient times expired more than 1,500 years ago but the lessons to be learned from its experience are eternal. In this lecture, Mr. Reed focuses on the Roman Republic—the key features, personalities and events that defined its rise as well as those that caused its decay in the First Century B.C. …
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Hunter Baker’s lecture proposes recovering ideals in statesmanship and citizenship as the answer to the intense political polarization seen today.
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Only the family can provide the sense of security and identity that every person needs. Civilization itself depends on children having a good first year. Family breakdown is expensive. Taxpayers provide programs to step in when the family fails. Businesses have trouble finding workers they need, with even basic skills. Individuals and families struggle to …
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Many experts predict that in coming years, as many of half of all jobs could be replaced by robots and artificial intelligence, leading to widespread technological unemployment. Jay Richards argues that these claims are based more on bad philosophy, not on solid evidence. Moreover, they ignore basic lessons of both history and economics. There is …
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Communism took power in Cuba through deceit and intrigue in 1959. While Fidel Castro denied he was a communist, promising to restore democracy in the island, he began consolidating totalitarian rule and exporting revolution in Latin America and Africa. As the totalitarian dictatorship became evident, Cuba’s democratic resistance defied the Castro regime in two phases: …
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Protestant evangelicals are one of the largest and most influential groups in the United States. Evangelicals are known for participating in international adoptions, volunteering in local churches and a host of philanthropic organizations, and mostly for political activism. Despite all of these activities, evangelicals have not changed American culture. Seth Bartee will offer an explanation …
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The US Supreme Court hangs in the balance when it comes to some of the most important areas of the law, with a couple of more vacancies possible, and there are an unprecedented number of vacancies anticipated on the Federal appeals courts. This state of affairs presents a unique opportunity to transform the courts so …
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The debate over the size and scope of the federal government has raged since the New Deal. So why have opponents of big government so rarely made political headway? Because they fail to address the fundamental issue.
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Everyone knows that the Federal Government has far transcended the limited role envisioned by the Founders. In this address, retired United States Magistrate Judge Joseph Scoville explores the main events in American Constitutional history responsible for the eclipse of the checks and balances designed to limit federal power.
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While the formal significance of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation might be celebrated by Protestants and lamented by Catholics, reflecting back on sixteenth-century reform 500 years removed affords valuable lessons. The occasion also allows us to highlight the theological and legal thinking of a most remarkable though much forgotten figure of the Protestant …
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We often say right and wrong are vague and hard to know. The natural law tradition says that’s nonsense: the moral basics are known to every human being. If this is true, then we aren’t ignorant, just self-deceived. So what happens if we tell ourselves that we don’t know what we really do?
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In this fascinating memoir, historian Lee Edwards who knew and worked with Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater, and William F. Buckley, Jr. for nearly five decades reveals what motivated these giants of the modern conservative movement—a staunch belief in free enterprise and a love of God. Called “The Voice of the Silent Majority” by the New …
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The fight for the Supreme Court during the presidential campaign has crystalized the importance of judges’ both having the right constitutional theories and being willing to enforce them. Too much “restraint” – like Chief Justice Roberts in the Obamacare cases – has led to the unchecked growth of government, toxic judicial confirmation battles, and even …
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Politicians and pundits are struggling to understand this populist moment. Are a shrinking workforce and a contemptuous, divided culture simply America’s “new normal”? Is free enterprise fundamentally at odds with defending the national interest? Arthur Brooks draws on history and social science to explain these unusual times – and offers a set of strategies, from …
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What makes someone a hero? Is it fame, power, money, creative talent, athletic ability, good looks? Despite what our culture typically celebrates, none of those things makes a hero. No, heroism springs from character, the critical element that defines a person. The good news is that character is something every one of us can mold; …
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Do private property and religious liberty go hand-in-hand? Are they inseparable or not? Rev. Robert A. Sirico, president and co-founder of the Acton Institute, will talk about how you cannot have one without the other and that they truly are indivisible and inseperable in a free and virtuous society.
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Why does federal aid seem to have a reverse Midas touch? Drawing on examples from the nation’s past and present—the fur trade to railroads, cars and chemicals, aviation to Solyndra—Uncle Sam Can’t Count, a sweeping work of conservative economic history that explains why the federal government cannot and should not pick winners and losers in …
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There’s little truly “progressive” about Progressivism. True progress happens when humans are free, yet the Progressive agenda substantially diminishes freedom while promising the unachievable. Based on his recent book, Reed tackles a number of the most common economic, philosophic and historical errors of “progressive” ideology.
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We live in dark times. Christians wonder: Are the best days of the Christian faith behind us? Has modernity made Christian thought irrelevant and impotent? Is society beyond all hope of redemption and renewal? In Renaissance, Os Guinness declares no. Throughout history, the Christian faith has transformed entire cultures and civilizations, building cathedrals and universities, …
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In “The Conservative Heart,” Arthur C. Brooks, the prominent economist and president of AEI — the leading intellectual think tank on the right — offers a bold new vision for conservatism as a movement for social and economic justice. Brooks contends that after years of focusing on economic growth and traditional social values, it is …
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Is the market economy rooted in greed and self-interest? Jeffrey Tucker argues that these are not the core. Many degrees of love, as traditionally understood, is at the core of what it means to exchange, invent, speculate, and produce. An economy based on love of others cannot neglect the institutions of ownership, exchange, volition, and …
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On April 14, 2015, The Acton Institute and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy jointly hosted Timothy Carney for a lecture on the topic “Is Big Business a Danger to Economic Liberty?” Timothy P. Carney is the senior political columnist at the Washington Examiner, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and the author …
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What makes a president “good” or “bad”? Are the views of conventional historians right on such things or should we be looking for second opinions? In this lecture, Lawrence W. Reed offers his answers to these questions, while taking us on a stroll through the triumphs and the follies of some of the 43 men …
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In 1783 George Washington said that “we have a national character to establish.” 110 Years later Frederick Jackson Turner published “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” and wrote these words: “to the frontier the American intellect owes its striking characteristics… coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and inquisitiveness; that practical, inventive turn of …