Acton Institute

What if your job didn’t just drain your soul—but split it in two? Severance shows the modern worker torn between office and self. It’s sci-fi with a message: Corporations now shape identity where family and faith once did. Full story: https://lnkd.in/geQ5pEjg

He built a city, defied his colony, and wrote the first banned book in America. Have you heard of him? William Pynchon, a devout Puritan settler and founder of Springfield, Massachusetts, dared to suggest that Christ’s obedience—not his torment—secured our redemption. The Puritan clergy set his book ablaze. But true to Puritan form, Pynchon clung to Scripture over orthodoxy and conscience over consensus.

We’ve heard ad nauseam about violence in the name of God. But what about violence in the name of No God? Thomas Albert Howard’s meticulous history forces us to rethink the default narrative. It shows that secularism, especially in its combative and eliminationist forms, has been anything but peaceful.

What happens when secularism stops being passive? According to historian Thomas Albert Howard, secularism isn’t always neutral. It can become combative or even eliminationist. And that’s when things turn violent. The latest episode of the Acton Line podcast unpacks the overlooked link between secularism and violence. ?? Featuring: "Broken Altars" author Thomas Albert (Tal) Howard ?? Hosted by John Pinheiro Listen: https://lnkd.in/gavqn5bt

What if your job didn’t just drain your soul—but split it in half? "Severance" dramatizes our 21st-century identity crisis: Divided between worker and human, freedom and servitude, soul and self-help. It’s a sci-fi parable for a post-family, post-church, post-nation age—where corporations don’t just employ us, they supply us with purpose.

What’s more valuable than wealth? Wisdom. Riches may come and go. But knowledge has the power to shape lives, societies, and futures.

You don’t read Flannery O’Connor. You reckon with her. Crippled young, aged fast, and dead by 39, she still stands apart—untouchable, singular, inimitable. Even in her failures, she knew what so few do today: Sin is real, and grace is stranger still. Full story: https://lnkd.in/gxY_HeQ7

Maybe we’re the weird ones. Puritans weren’t killjoys. They just lived in a time when Christian moral seriousness was the norm. They drank, played music, wore fancy clothes, loved their spouses, and tried to build a godly society. What we scoff at as “puritanical” was simply Christianity taken seriously—often more humanist and joyful than we’ve been taught to remember.

Here's something you can't do: Walk the streets of Jerusalem, sip café hafuch, or pick cherries in the Golan without stumbling into someone’s story. In "Gather the Olives," these stories are collected through the lens of food. There are many unexpected encounters with love, peace, and grace in a place the world too often misunderstands.

Migration is inevitable. The real question is this: Should it be a crisis or an opportunity? Pope Francis urges compassion for migrants, but compassion must be coupled with prudence. Every person has dignity and the right to seek a better life. But that right is conditional—not absolute. Acton’s principles remind us that migrants bring economic benefits. But assimilation, security, and rule of law matter, too. Unchecked migration strains social cohesion, while brain drain cripples developing economies. Remittances help, but they don’t replace real reform. A just immigration policy isn’t about walls or welcome signs. It’s about creating conditions where both migrants and their home countries can thrive.