When I accepted the new position as managing editor of Religion & Liberty, only one thing had been set in stone: Caroline Roberts’ article on Walker Percy would be the cover story. Everything else remained to be determined. Her essay is one of the first to come from Acton’s new longform journalism platform, which combines extensive reporting with beautiful photography to give readers an immersive understanding of the subject. This project continues to grow and improve.
Curt Biren analyzes economic and social justice from a Jewish perspective. In his understanding of the Torah, “The Bible implicitly assumes the primacy of economic liberty, of entrepreneurial freedom, of the free and voluntary exchange of products and services – subject, of course, to the laws of justice.”
Wesley J. Smith of the Discovery Institute writes that transhumanism has taken on the trappings of a religion, shaping the longings of Silicon Valley’s creative elite.
Fr. Anthony Perkins reviews Vigen Guroian’s The Orthodox Reality: Culture, Theology, and Ethics in the Modern World.
Fr. Robert Sirico offers a personal reflection on Russell Kirk, who would have turned 100 in October.
“In the Liberal Tradition” features Blessed Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko, a Polish priest whose martyrdom in the waning days of Communism demonstrates the destruction even dying myths can inflict.
The remaining features take a panoramic view of the human condition, across time and geography. The articles traverse from Venezuela to Rome, from Cuba to Estonia. They discuss the $15 minimum wage, the plastic straw ban, and Amazon’s latest exploits. They arc from rabbinical scholars huddled over sacred manuscripts in the synagogue, to pagan emperors plotting to eradicate Christianity in ancient Rome, to modern-day waitresses fighting to protect their families from wellmeaning but misguided activists in the nation’s capital. The articles have such an expansive vista because Acton understands that true faith directs all our deeds, and economics consists of nothing but the sum of individual human actions. At their core, Acton’s two emphases touch upon the deepest core of our shared humanity.
I’m proud to be part of the team.
