Acton Institute

Where is the Acton Institute headed in 2025? Here's how you can quickly get brought up to speed: On the latest Acton Line podcast, our president and co-founder Kris Mauren shares his insights on the origins of Acton, what we’ve accomplished, and the exciting plans we have for the future. Full episode: https://lnkd.in/gpgV4Zeu #leadership #podcast

Faith and freedom belong together. Our president emeritus Fr. Robert Sirico says one can’t thrive without the other. Flourishing requires virtue and economic liberty. Anything less falls short. #faith #philosophy

Is America a "Christian nation"? This debate isn’t just about today—it’s a battle over the story of America’s past and its future. On the latest episode of the Acton Line podcast, our former director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn sits down with historian Miles Smith to talk about his book, "Religion & Republic: Christian America from the Founding to the Civil War." They discuss how early Americans understood the relationship between faith and the republic—and what it means for us today. Listen: https://lnkd.in/gjMFN4XG #history #podcast

History challenges what modern politics frames as inevitable. Mustafa Akyol exposes how the supposed eternal conflict between Jews and Muslims is a recent invention, not a historical reality. His revelations of centuries-long cooperation remind us that peace isn’t a dream. It’s a rediscovered past. #theology

Life on the edge of death strips us bare. Andrew Gillsmith’s "The Jerusalem Passage" is a harrowing pilgrimage of sin, despair, and the faint hope of redemption. Through Janusz—a failed priest whose journey to die mirrors his inner war—we confront whether grace can touch even the most hardened of hearts. #literature

Americans scoff at monarchy but romanticize its traditions. Why? Eduard Habsburg's new book answers this paradox, showing how old-world values—faith, family, and duty—can enrich modern life. You don’t need a crown, just Aristotle’s “golden mean” and a willingness to lead by example. #family #history

Freedom is the cornerstone of a virtuous society. But it demands these two things: Responsibility and self-control. Economist Rafael Termes argued that capitalism thrives not through coercion but through moral regeneration. This shapes an ethical and cultural system that honors human dignity. True flourishing, he believed, comes from aligning economic systems with the transcendent purpose of man. Full story: https://lnkd.in/g4bAVqkD #quotes

The scientific management of people—specifically poor people—led to the breakdown of natural communities and relationships that enable people to flourish. Poverty became more concentrated and creating a multiplier effect for existing cultural and social weaknesses. We cannot blame federal programs for all the social ills of our time; but the social engineering of people, combined with regulations and policies that undermined local organizations and weakened family ties, led to a breakdown of relationships in poor communities and what Seth Kaplan has called “fragile neighborhoods.” From my forward to Ismael Hernandez new book Re-Thinking Charity from Acton Institute Caleb Whitmer John Pinheiro https://lnkd.in/gxKzATFa

Russia’s gulags may have faded from memory. But Alexei Navalny’s memoir reveals they never truly disappeared. He exposes the chilling parallels between Putin’s Russia and the USSR of old: Rigged elections, stifled freedoms, and brutality for dissenters. Yet it’s a call to remember that Russia’s hope, however faint, still burns. #leadership

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