It’s no secret how important good reading ability is. With only one-third of American school children reading at a proficient level, a student who not only reads but understands a book has a clear advantage over the rest of his peers. It is for this reason that many engaged parents follow the 1862 exhortation of
READ MORENo one is surprised when teenagers withdraw from their parents’ religious practice. It’s often looked upon as a rite of passage. But, according to a study from Stanford Graduate School of Education no one should be surprised either if their grades suffer. Adolescents who are committed to their religious beliefs do better academically than those who are
READ MOREJust how much imperialism is in the DNA—so to write—of the American character? When Frederick Jackson Turner delivered his famous address, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” on an outrageously humid Chicago afternoon, July 12, 1893, he warned that what had been a healthy frontier expansion might well turn into bald-faced imperialism with
READ MOREIt’s hard to look at a TV, phone, magazine rack, or computer screen and not see the mug of James Comey right now. The former FBI Director is not only promoting his controversial new book A Higher Loyalty; he also finds himself in the crosshairs of President Trump’s Twitter account. Slippery James
READ MOREI was recently in a bar having dinner with a friend when Gerry Rafferty’s hit 1978 song “Baker Street” came on. When my friend mentioned that he loved the song, I agreed and noted the song’s powerful lyrics. “Really?” he responded. “I never paid much attention to the lyrics.” Most people, of course, remember “Baker
READ MOREThe death of any famous person inevitably brings his or her accomplishments back into the light for one last hurrah. Former first lady Barbara Bush is no exception to this rule. And judging from the articles following her death on April 17, 2018, one of Bush’s most remembered accomplishments is the commencement speech she gave
READ MOREIf someone asks you to name the all-time bestselling book, you’d most likely answer “The Bible.” And you’d be right. According to Guinness World Records: “Although it is impossible to obtain exact figures, there is little doubt that the Bible is the world’s best-selling and most widely distributed book. A survey by the Bible Society
READ MOREAmerica’s fastest-growing food chain has come to New York City. But as Hunter Baker notes in this week’s Acton Commentary, the “company’s success sticks in the craw of some who find it to be an alien presence due to the Christianity of the family who owns the company and their traditional values.” A recent New Yorker piece refers
READ MOREIn Illinois, neither scandal nor misconduct have sufficed to keep some government officials from receiving lavish severance payouts. One proposal in the General Assembly, however, aims to relieve taxpayers of this obligation. Senate Bill 3604, filed April 10 by state Sen. Tom Cullerton, D-Villa Park, would limit government workers’ ability to collect extravagant severance packages,
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