Christianity is the world's most persecuted faith today. Around 200 million Christians are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith in Christ. Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, who is chairman of the Russian Church's Department of External Church Relations, is especially vocal against the crisis of slaughter and persecution that has persisted after the "Arab Spring." Sadly, this issue has far too few voices sounding the alarm, but the Russian Metropolitan is an important defender of religious freedom and the rights of Christians around the world.
Metropolitan Hilarion is also involved in ecumenical relations with Roman Catholics and conservative Protestants. He touches on the topic in this interview and how the surge of liberal Protestantism is damaging Christian unity and cooperation with the Western world. This too, is a topic that is given far too little attention.
"First Citizen and Antilon" by Samuel Hearne is an important piece given the current rise of religious persecution by civil authorities in America. The 18th Century newspaper debate between Charles Carroll of Carrollton and Daniel Dulany helped to advance religious freedom, the rights of man, and the nature of government in colonial Maryland. The debate also resulted in Carroll's rise in Maryland as an important figure for American liberty as a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Catholic signer of the document.
Timothy J. Barnett reviews Dennis Prager's Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph and Bruce Edward Walker reviews Silent Spring at 50: The False Crises of Rachel Carson. That book was edited by Roger Meiners, Pierre Desrochers, and Andrew Morriss. The "In the Liberal Tradition" figure is Metropolitan Philip II (1507 – 1569). Philip, a martyred Russian Orthodox monk, declared, "If I do not bear witness to the truth, I render myself unworthy of my office as a bishop. If I bow to men's will, what shall I find to answer Christ on the Day of Judgment?" It's a simple yet deep declaration for those in Church leadership to emulate today as some ecclesiastical leaders are pressured into bowing to the will and agenda of contemporary culture.
In light of the ongoing attacks on success in the private sector and private property, we offer an excerpt from Rev. Robert A. Sirico's Defending the Free Market on "The Role of Profits." Rev. Sirico asks, "if profits are morally dubious, are losses more ethical?"
It is my hope that this issue gives us added insight into how we think about many of the problems that plague our society, while equally offering encouragement and motivation to offer truth to the world.
