Acton Vault

Rooted in the tradition of the Orthodox Church and its teaching on the relationship between God, humanity, and all creation, Fr. Michael Butler and Prof. Andrew Morriss offer a new contribution to Orthodox environmental theology. Too often policy recommendations from theologians and church authorities have taken the form of pontifications, obscuring many important economic and public policy realities. The authors establish a framework for responsible engagement with environmental issues undergirded not only by church teaching but also by sound economic analysis.

Fr. Butler and Prof. Morriss take the discussion of Orthodox environmental ethics from abstract principles to thoughtful interaction with the concrete, always sensitive to the inviolability of human dignity, the plight of the poor, and our common pursuit of communion with God.

This presentation was delivered as part of the 2015 Acton Lecture Series.

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The False Promise of Green Energy | Acton Institute 

Fr. Michael Butler offers insight on Laudato Si' | Acton University 2015 

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The Honorable Janice Rogers Brown, retired judge of the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia, delivered an evening plenary address as part of Acton University 2018.

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Register for free — The Islamic Case for Liberty — Acton Institute 

Janus v. AFSCME: Political freedom for public employees — Acton Institute

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In this episode, we bring you a presentation that was delivered as part of the 2022 Acton Lecture Series, featuring Matthew Tuininga, Ph.D., associate professor of Christian ethics and the history of Christianity at Calvin Theological Seminary, speaking on Abraham Kuyper's principles for Christian liberalism. Kuyper was a staunch critic of the secularist liberalism he identified as the legacy of the French Revolution, but in its place he advocated what might be described as Christian liberalism. 

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Calvin Theological Seminary 

About Matthew J. Tuininga 

The Abraham Kuyper Collection – Acton Bookshop 

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In this episode of Acton Vault, John O’Sullivan, president of the Danube Institute in Budapest, accepted the 2011 Faith and Freedom Award on behalf of Lady Margaret Thatcher during Acton’s 2011 Anniversary Dinner. 

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Danube Institute

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In this episode of Acton Vault, John D. Wilsey, associate professor of church history and philosophy at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, dissects Alexis de Tocqueville’s understanding of self-interest and how it helps preserve liberty within the bounds of democracy. 

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About John D. Wilsey 

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Alexis de Tocqueville, socialism, and the American Way | Acton Institute 

Video: John Wilsey On How To Read de Tocqueville's 'Democracy In America' 

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In this episode, we bring you an insightful conversation between Michael Matheson Miller, Acton Institute senior research fellow and producer of the documentary Poverty, Inc., and the late George Ayittey, Ghanaian economist, author, and president of the Free Africa Foundation. 

The Acton Institute’s Poverty Cure series includes supplementary conversations with renowned scholars, businesspeople, and nonprofit leaders. This is a conversation that took place in 2020. 

Ayittey died on January 28, 2022, at the age of 76.

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Poverty Cure Summit — Acton Institute 

HRF Mourns the Passing of Ghanaian Economist and Freedom Champion George Ayittey — Human Rights Foundation 

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In October 2018, Brazilian professor Lucas Freire delivered the 18th annual Calihan Lecture here at the Acton Institute.

Freire was the 2018 recipient of the Novak Award, a $15,000 grant that rewards those early in their academic career who can demonstrate the relationship between religion, economic freedom, and the free and virtuous society.

Recipients of the Novak Award make a formal presentation at an annual public forum known as the Calihan Lecture.

Freire’s lecture was part of an international two-day conference, “Crisis in the Public Square: A Response from the Kuyperian Tradition.” 

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About Dr. Lucas G. Freire  

About the Novak Award | Acton Institute

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In this episode, we bring you a keynote address that was delivered as part of the 2017 Education and Freedom Conference, featuring Jeff Sandefer, co-founder of Acton Academy, a new and innovative K–12 school that offers a nontraditional approach to education—an alternative to standardized testing and rote memorization. 

Sandefer opens his address by questioning the typical education model: “Common Core, standardized tests, control, regurgitation, [and] oversight—19th-century solutions in the 21st century. Perhaps this makes sense to some until you ask the question, ‘What if children really are far more capable than we ever imagined?’”

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Acton Academy

Jeff Sandefer — Acton Academy Co-Founder

A Field Guide for the Hero's Journey — Acton Bookshop

Ian Rowe on “Agency”: Empowering all children to achieve success —  Acton Line Podcast

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What’s it like to be the son or daughter of a dictator? Not just any dictator, but a genocidal monster on the level of a Josef Stalin? What’s it like to bear a name synonymous with oppression, terror, and evil?

Jay Nordlinger, a senior editor of National Review, set out to answer that question in his book “Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators.” He looks into the families of the worst of the worst: Stalin, Mao, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, and so on.

Some of the kids are down-the-line loyalists. Some even succeeded their fathers as dictators themselves (as in North Korea and Syria). Some have doubts. A few defect. All have been rocked by prison, war, exile, and the like. These men and women lead all-too-interesting lives.

This is a presentation that was delivered as part of the 2015 Acton Lecture Series.

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About Jay Nordlinger 

Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators 

When Dad Is the Devil | National Review 

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In this episode of Action Vault, we bring you a presentation that was delivered as part of the 2013 Acton Lecture Series, featuring John Blundell speaking on the topic of “Ladies for Liberty: Women Who Made a Difference in American History.” Blundell was director general and Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs. He passed away on July 22, 2014, at the age of 61. 

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Acton Lecture Series 

About John Blundell 

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