Photo: © Peter Williams / WCC

To well-fed (sometimes overfed) people in Western countries, it is certainly odd to think of food as a life-saving medicine. But for those suffering from chronic hunger and malnutrition, the idea is a reality. It is repeated over and over again that the amount of food produced in the world is enough to feed all the hungry people in the world ^[1] ; hence, the solution to hunger is not to increase production but to improve distribution of what is already being produced. As sensible this statement might seem, it is of no help to the hungry.

Large amounts of food are indeed produced in the West, but this is mainly used to feed animals that eventually become...

For fifteen years, the Acton Institute has been reaching out to religious leaders, students, scholars, and business peopl e in highly focused events in the United States and abroad. Now, Acton University will bring all of these groups together in a single “main event” to learn together and share experiences from all over the world.

Acton University reaches a large and diverse audience and will be offered to the general public. With more than forty courses in philosophy, theology, economics, business, and effective compassion, the university allows participants to design their own conference experience, availing themselves of the knowledge of some of the leading experts in these fields.

Acton is excited about this new endeavor. Still, the university does not change our commitments to our other popular events, most notably the Toward a Free and Virtuous Society (FAVS)...

In the presidential campaign of 1992, George H. W. Bush's family values platform collapsed under the weight of a recession, and to many, the political discussion of morality retreated, taking refuge under the so-called Religious Right. But since the second election of George W. Bush, open talk of faith and morals has reentered the political arena with gusto. This is due partly to the reactive emergence of a Religious Left, such as is advocated in Jim Wallis's bestselling book, God's Politics. The book encourages the political left to use the language of faith and morals to regain the hearts and minds (and votes) of religious Americans. The strategy seems to be “less P.C., more J.C.” But the J.C. who answered the call was Jimmy Carter, whose new book, Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis, fronts as an appeal to our corporate conscience. In effect, the book only...

Our first two issues of the new Religion & Liberty were focused on particular themes—an innovation for us. This issue returns to familiar terrain with a broader selection of pieces. Nevertheless, I might suggest that there is something of a connection between the principal articles we have in this issue.

The Acton Institute is about promoting a “free and virtuous society.” Perhaps in this issue there is a little more emphasis on the “virtuous” rather than the “free.”

Michael R. Stevens’s article on Wendell Berry will strike some readers as a surprising inclusion here. Mr. Berry is no cheerleader for the free market, and his concern for agricultural communities leads him to be suspicious even of technological advances. But Mr. Berry’s concern is about the human ecology of the economy: What effect does our economic...

One would think that a seminal religious document such as the Torah—the five books of Moses, the Old Testament— would limit itself to purely spiritual themes. Yet many economic socialists and redistributionists find Torah scripture unnerving because among its greatest offerings is the motif of private property. Private property and the outgrowth from it that results in the well-ordered, predictable society are necessary conditions for an enduring civilization. And it is civilized society that the Torah wishes, through its precepts, to create.

Being created in the image of God means that a human, like God, must be responsible, accountable, mature, and merciful. None of this comes about except within a construct where the...

1 Thessalonians 4:9—12

On the subject of mutual charity you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. Indeed, you do this for all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Nevertheless we urge you, brothers, to progress even more, and to aspire to live a tranquil life, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your [own] hands, as we instructed you, that you may conduct yourselves properly toward outsiders and not depend on anyone.

What is God's purpose for his children? In one sense, we can say it is dependence, complete dependence on His grace to sustain and to save us: “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Jesus said “ask and it will be given to you,” (Matthew 7:7) and James said “you do not possess because you do not ask” (James 4:3). A good example of this...

Some people imagine that there is a third way between the market economy and socialism, and in a sense they are right. But the way to it does not lie with government programs. Before I explain that, let us consider the unseen effects of substituting government means for voluntary human energies.

We often use the word voluntary to identify charitable actions taken in society that do not result in profit. But consider that profit in a market economy also results from voluntary actions. They involve willing buyers and willing sellers, willing workers and willing capital owners. All “capitalist” acts result from volitional choice, a decision by individuals to make exchange based on the forecast that doing so will improve their lots in...