Acton Line

The United States is consumed with questions regarding race, the legacy of slavery, and the nature of social justice. Where are people of faith to turn?

For most of the last two thousand years Christians have believed that God deals with nations as nations and enters into closer relations with societies that claim him as Lord. This belief in the national covenant, only recently out of fashion, is where Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, Jr. turned when faced with such questions in their own time.

In this episode Acton’s Dan Hugger talks with Gerald McDermott, the editor of the new book Race and Covenant: Recovering the Religious Roots for American Reconciliation, about the idea of national covenant in scripture, history, and contemporary American society and how a revitalization of this idea could help lead to racial reconciliation.

Race and Covenant: Recovering the Religious Roots for American Reconciliation - Gerald McDermott

Excerpt from Race and Covenant - Gerald McDermott

Misunderstanding Race and the Bible - Gerald McDermott

Race and Redemption - Gerald McDermott

Wanted: Pastors with Courage - Gerald McDermott

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On October 14, 2020, the New York Post published an expose on former Vice President and current Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, headlined, “Smoking-gun email reveals how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessman to VP dad.”

Shortly after the article’s publication, the ability to share the link to the story was limited and, in some cases, prohibited by Facebook and Twitter, with those social media companies alleging that the content was unreliable, unverified, or was prohibited for containing hacked information. 

This incident has provoked the latest round of calls for reform or repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996.

The U.S. Senate has subpoenaed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to appear before a hearing to examine the New York Post incident. 

Senator Ken Buck, R-Colo., said “condemnation is not enough. It’s time to reform Section 230.” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called Section 230 “a gift” and “a subsidy from the taxpayers to big tech.” And Sen. Josh Hawley, R.-Mo., has introduced legislation that would allow Americans to file lawsuits against “big tech” companies who breach good faith user agreements by censoring political speech or suppressing content.

What is Section 230? What does it actually say? What role did it play in creating the modern internet? And what would happen if it were changed or repealed?

In this episode Scott Lincicome, an international trade attorney and a Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at the Cato Institute, discusses the issues surrounding Section 230.

Scott Lincicome - Cato Institute

Capitolism newsletter at The Dispatch - Scott Lincicome (paywall)

47 U.S. Code § 230

Fine, Let's Talk About Section 230 - Scott Lincicome (paywall)

Defending the Indispensable - Matthew Feeny

Is social media the source of our social problems? - Dan Hugger

Social media censorship: Regulation or innovation? - Ed Morrow

Religion & Liberty Vol. 30 No. 1 on social media - Acton Institute

Should social media companies be treated like publishers and broadcasters? - Hunter Baker

Using social media for good with Daniel Darling - Acton Line

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In his article in the June 2020 issue of the Journal of Institutional Economics, Dr. P.J. Hill, who served as the George F. Bennett Professor of Economics at Wheaton College until his retirement in 2011, begins by saying, “in any discussion of the beginning of modern economic growth, the concept of the rule of law plays a crucial role," and that, "the lack of such an order is the fundamental cause of the failure of nations."

But where did the foundations of the rule of law come from?  

Hill argues that the current theories about the origin of the rule of law, while useful, are also incomplete. According to Hill, the Jewish and Christian concept of all human beings being created in God’s image is an important, but often overlooked, contributor to the rule of law in Western civilization.

Today, Acton’s Dan Churchwell is joined by Dr. P.J. Hill to discuss his research article, “The religious origins of the rule of law,” the way beliefs affect institutions in general, and how the beliefs of the Christian and Jewish faith traditions in particular were crucial to the establishment of the rule of law. 

Dr. P.J. Hill at Wheaton College

The religious origins of the rule of law - P.J. Hill

P.J. Hill on the social power of markets - Joseph Sunde

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On October 3rd, 2020, Pope Francis released the third encyclical letter of his pontificate: Fratelli Tutti.

Literally translated as “Brothers all,” Fratelli Tutti is a call from Pope Francis for more human fraternity and solidarity. In it, Francis addresses a number of topics, including racism, immigration, capital punishment, war, politics and economics.

In addressing economic issues, Francis warns against “financial speculation,” cautions that “not everything can be resolved by market freedom,” and denounces the “dogma of neoliberal faith.”

It is with these economic issues that, in his article reviewing Fratelli Tutti for Catholic World Report, Acton’s Dr. Samuel Gregg sees “economic caricatures roam[ing] throughout Francis’s documents.”

In this episode, Acton Institute president and co-founder Rev. Robert Sirico and Acton’s director of research Dr. Samuel Gregg discuss Fratelli Tutti in general, and in particular the economic concerns raised therein.

Fratelli Tutti - Pope Francis

Fratelli Tutti is a familiar mixture of dubious claims, strawmen, genuine insights - Samuel Gregg

Rev. Robert Sirico responds to Laudato Si [video] - Rev. Robert Sirico

Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy - Rev. Robert Sirico

Reason, Faith and the Struggle for Western Civilization - Samuel Gregg

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In his article in the September 21st edition of National Review, “Toward a conservative environmentalism,” Nate Hochman says, “conservatism and conservation aren’t usually thought of as congruent; in fact, for the better part of a half century, many Americans have seen the two as antithetical.”

Indeed, environmentalism generally, aspects of it like concern over global warming or climate change, and the various proposed methods of addressing those problems, like the Green New Deal, have been associated with or come from the political left.

But, according to Hochman, environmentalism need not be a partisan issue or a cause owned by only one ideology. 

What does a conservative environmentalism look like? How can environmental concerns be better addressed through solutions guided by market-based principles instead of government-led efforts?  And how would a conservative environmentalism that “places the dignity of the human person at the center of its moral understanding” better serve us all?

Nate Hochman joins us to discuss. 

Nate Hochman at Young Voices

Toward a Conservative Environmentalism - Nate Hochman

Conscientious environmental stewardship - Rev. Robert Sirico

15 Biblical foundations of environmental stewardship - Joe Carter

Free market environmentalism: Conserving and collaborating with nature - Joseph Sunde

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The untimely death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in February of 2016 amplified questions about the Supreme Court in the 2016 election to new highs. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s high wire act in denying a hearing and vote on President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill that seat, Judge Merrick Garland, ultimately paid off for him: President Donald Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch, who was then confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate.

A year later, the political world was rocked again by the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy and President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the bench. Following one of the most contentions confirmation hearings in modern American political history, Kavanaugh was also confirmed.

Now, the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has created another election year vacancy on the nation’s highest court. President Trump has nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat. The political temperature has again risen.

In his new book, “Supreme Disorder: Judicial Nominations and the Politics of America’s Highest Court,” Cato’s Ilya Shapiro examines the history of the judicial confirmation hearings, how politics has invaded the Supreme Court itself, and how appointments to the Court have become one of the most explosive features of our system of government.

In this episode, Ilya Shapiro discusses his new book, how our politics of the judiciary got this way, how that politics affecting us as a nation, and what, if anything, can be done about it.

Ilya Shapiro at the Cato Institute

Supreme Disorder: Judicial Nominations and the Politics of America's Highest Court - Ilya Shapiro

Term Limits Won’t Fix the Court - Ilya Shapiro

Roberts Rules - Ilya Shapiro

Everything you need to know about Amy Coney Barrett - Rev. Ben Johnson

‘A different kind of lawyer’: Amy Coney Barrett on Christian vocation - Joseph Sunde

High Court, high stakes: Replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Trey Dimsdale

Religious liberty at the Supreme Court - Acton Line

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With fusionism – the strategic alliance of conservative foreign policy hawks, social conservatives and economic libertarians knitted together in the last half of the 20th century in opposition to international communism ­­– crumbling after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the modern conservative movement has been remaking itself in effort to address the problems of the current day.

One of these seemingly ascendant factions are the so-called common good conservatives.

In an article in the October 2020 edition of Reason magazine, managing editor Stephanie Slade examines the what she calls the “great liberalism schism” that has emerged out of the collapse of fusionism.

And for the common good conservatives shedding classical liberal norms, she identifies a new moniker: will-to-power conservativism, borrowing a concept from German philosopher Friederich Nietzsche. 

In this episode, Stephanie Slade discusses will-to-power conservatism, who exactly has a claim on the concept of the common good, and what the great liberalism schism means for our politics and society.

Stephanie Slade at Reason magazine

Will-to-Power Conservatism and the Great Liberalism Schism - Stephanie Slade

The biggest problems of national conservatism - Acton Line

The Post-Liberal Right: The Good, the Bad, and the Perplexing - Sam Gregg

Patrick Deneen and the Problem with Liberalism - Sam Gregg

Rev. Robert Sirico responds to Marco Rubio's 'common good capitalism' - Acton Line

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Charles Malik, the Lebanese diplomat and one of the drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was intimately involved in the crises of his own day, from the challenge of international communism to the internal challenges and problems of the West itself. For Malik all of our challenges take the form of crises which, at their deepest levels, reflect Christ’s judgement.

His profoundly theological vision of global crisis, one in which crises are ongoing in the lives of individual believers as well as the world at large, springs from his own lifelong Orthodox faith.

In a world consumed by crises from the global COVID-19 pandemic to ongoing civil unrest in the United States Malik’s insights are timelier than ever for believers trying to navigate through a turbulent world.

In this episode, Acton’s Dan Hugger talks with Dylan Pahman, research fellow and managing editor of the Journal of Markets and Morality at the Acton Institute, about Malik’s life and his book "Christ and Crisis" in which he presents his Christ-centered interpretative framework for grappling with a rapidly changing world.

Christ and Crisis - Charles Malik

Charles Malik - Hero of Liberty, Religion & Liberty

The burden of the Christian - Charles Malik

‘Christ and Crisis’ today - Dylan Pahman

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In his new book, The Socialist Temptation, author Iain Murray examines the resurgence of socialist ideology in America and across the world.

Seemingly discredited just thirty years ago by the failures of the Soviet Union and Communist block Eastern Europe, socialism has seen a revival of support and popularity in the West.

Murray sets out to explain why the socialist temptation endures even after it’s own massive failures, the inconsistencies in socialist thought that prevent it from ever working in practice, and how to show young people who didn’t learn the lessons of history the sorry truth about socialism.

Iain Murray at the Competitive Enterprise Institute

The Socialist Temptation - Iain Murray

Socialism as religion with Kevin Williamson - Acton Line

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On February 4th, 2004, a sophomore at Harvard University by the name of Mark Zuckerberg launched TheFacebook. At the time, the social networking website was limited to only students at Harvard. And while other social networking platforms like MySpace and Friendster predated the launch of Facebook, it was that February day in Cambridge, Massachusetts that the age of social media was truly born.

Today, Facebook boasts 2.5 billion active users, is available in 111 languages, and is the 4th most trafficked website in the world. And from there, other platforms followed: Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, Pintrest and, most recently, TikTok.

While these platforms were launched with a promise of connecting the entire world together in conversation, today they also have a reputation for fostering hate, animosity, vitriol, conspiracy mongering, outrage mobs and a litany of other negative societal impacts.

Does social media have to be this way? Or can we be better?

In this episode, Daniel Darling, Senior Vice President for Communications at National Religious Broadcasters and author of the new book A Way With Words, discusses the promise of social media, where it went wrong, what our social media habits say about us, and how we can use our online conversations for good.

Daniel Darling's website

The Way Home Podcast with Daniel Darling

A Way with Words: Using Our Online Conversations for Good - Daniel Darling

A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream - Yuval Levin

Is social media the source of our social problems? - Dan Hugger

How to drain the poison of outrage out of social media - Dan Hugger

Religion & Liberty Winter 2019: Social Media

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