Acton Vault

There are competing creation “myths” regarding American liberty. The Jamestown, Va., settlers of 1607 have vied with the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony in New England for dominance in America’s self-understanding of its origins. In this presentation, delivered as part of the 2019 Acton Lecture Series, Alan Crippen argues that these narratives have obscured the role of William Penn and his “holy experiment” of Pennsylvania as the most influential seedbed of American liberty.

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Acton Lecture Series 

Faith and Liberty Discovery Center

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On May 5, 1994, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Clarence Thomas delivered the keynote address at the Acton Institute’s Fourth Anniversary Dinner. His remarks were entitled, “Religion and the Constitution of Liberty.” 

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About Clarence Thomas

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In this episode, we bring you a presentation that was delivered as part of the 2021 Acton Lecture Series, featuring Rachel Ferguson, Ph.D., speaking on black liberation through the marketplace. 

Viewing America’s record on individual rights and constitutional order through a classical liberal lens, Ferguson sees the undeniable and blatant injustices perpetrated against black Americans. But she also discovers black entrepreneurs overcoming extraordinary obstacles and a black community that has created flourishing institutions and culture.

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About Rachel Ferguson 

Black Liberation Through the Marketplace: Hope, Heartbreak, and the Promise of America 

Anthony Bradley on why black lives matter 

Acton Lecture Series 

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Robert Doar, a Morgridge Scholar and the president of the American Enterprise Institute, explores the history and future of welfare policy in America. Weaving together personal anecdotes and statistical insights, he explains the significant progress that has been made to alleviate poverty in past decades.

At the same time, Doar maps out many of the obstacles still standing in the way of further advances. Based on decades of experience and the influence of his father's public service, Robert outlines the most important features of an effective anti-poverty program that promotes work, family life, and civil society and that lays the groundwork for a more prosperous America.

This presentation was delivered as part of the 2019 Acton Lecture Series. 

About Robert Doar 

Acton Lecture Series 

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America has experienced a surge in populism in recent years that has turned the established order of our politics on its head. Where does such a movement come from? What can history tell us about where it's going? And what can statesmen do to channel this political outrage for the good of all the people?

In this episode, we bring you a presentation that was delivered as part of the 2016 Acton Lecture Series, featuring Ben Domenech, co-founder and publisher of The Federalist, speaking on the rise of American populism.

Domenech looks at the history of populism in America, from Andrew Jackson to William Jennings Bryan, and traces that strain of politics straight through to the rise of Donald Trump. According to Domenech, the roots of the current populist uprising in America can be traced to the failure of elite institutions to address or even acknowledge the problems and needs of average citizens. 

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About Ben Domenech 

The Federalist: Culture, Politics, Religion 

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On November 17, 2021, an audience of Acton supporters and friends gathered in Grand Rapids, Michigan to celebrate Rev. Robert A. Sirico’s three decades of leadership of the institute as he officially transitioned to the role of President Emeritus. Sirico’s remarks were a reflection on those years of work in service of the cause of liberty, the current state of political and social discourse in the United States, and his vision for how the Acton Institute can help to bridge the vast social divides that exist today.

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Our world is a world of ever evolving technology. Every positive advancement in digital technology inevitably comes with an encroachment on privacy whether it be in business, health, families, or freedom. From rampant cancel culture and propaganda on social networks to data collection and surveillance, social manipulation has become the new digital contagion—influencing our behavior and threatening our security. Protection from the omnipresence of digital tech can come in many mediums whether it be political and economic reforms, challenges in the judicial system, or decentralizing the power of the state and large corporations. How much technology is too much? How can innovations in digital technology be used to serve the masses instead of manipulating them?

In this episode, we’re bringing you a presentation that was delivered as part of the 2021 Acton Lecture series featuring Michael Matheson Miller speaking on his new book, Digital Contagion: 10 Steps to Protect your Family & Business from Intrusion, Cancel Culture, and Surveillance Capitalism.

Digital Contagion: 10 Steps to Protect your Family & Business from Intrusion, Cancel Culture, and Surveillance Capitalism 

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Andrew Klavan is a screenwriter, author, and two-time Edgar Award winner. Among his works are the internationally bestselling crime novels True Crime and Don't Say a Word. Both books were adapted into screenplays and went on to Hollywood success—the former directed by Clint Eastwood and the latter directed by and starring Michael Douglas. 

A prolific author, Klavan has also written thrillers for young adults, such as the bestselling Homelanders series, and a number of nonfiction works, including the religious memoir A Great Good Thing: A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ. That personal story formed the basis of his keynote address at the Acton Institute’s 29th Annual Dinner on October 15, 2019. 

In that address, Klavan shared the story of his journey from atheism to faith in Jesus Christ and laid out his views on how to speak about faith in a culture that has largely abandoned not only biblical truth but the very idea of truth itself.

About Andrew Klavan 

True Crime & Don't Say a Word

The Great Good Thing: A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ 

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Distributism is a political and economic theory under which the means of productions would be redistributed to as many people as possible, as part of an effort to decentralize power to the greatest extent possible, and to protect the rights of smaller political and economic units against the encroachments of both central government and big business. While distributists and free market advocates can find some common ground, there remain significant differences between the two groups.

On February 18, 2016, the Acton Institute hosted a debate on the topic of distributism. 

Arguing in favor of distributism was Joseph Pearce, who at the time was writer-in-residence at Aquinas College in Nashville, Tenn., and the director of the college’s Center for Faith and Culture. Currently, Pearce is director of book publishing at the Augustine Institute and editor of the St. Austin Review. On the side of free markets was Jay Richards, assistant research professor in the Busch School of Business and the academic content lead for the Tuscon Project at the Catholic University of America. Acton Institute president and co-founder Rev. Robert Sirico served as the moderator of the discussion.

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Joseph Pearce bio

Jay W. Richards bio

Acton’s 31st Annual Dinner

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Religious-liberty litigants have won 18 of their past 19 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, 14 of them unanimously or by supermajority vote. But a number of those decisions have been on narrow legal grounds and have not resolved the continuing tension between secular culture and those trying to live their faith in the public square.

In this episode, John Bursch, vice president of appellate advocacy at Alliance Defending Freedom, discusses where we’ve been and where we might be going when it comes to America’s “first freedom”: religious liberty.

This presentation was delivered on Oct. 28, 2021 as part of the Acton Lecture Series.

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Alliance Defending Freedom

Bio | John Bursch

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