The 1997 Lord Acton Essay Competition

Foreword

Robert A. Sirico

Promoting a society that embodies freedom in the context of a moral order has been the mission of the Acton Institute since its founding in 1990. One of the first ways we sought to further this mission was the Lord Acton Essay Competition, which we began in 1991. The competition is one of the Acton Institute’s many programs intended not only to provide resources for today’s religious leaders but also to educate the leaders of tomorrow. It also allows us to recognize those outstanding students who have demonstrated their grasp of sound economic thinking in relation to moral and religious concerns.

This year’s writing competition asks seminarians and religious studies students, as well as students with a demonstrated interest in religious issues, to reflect upon the following quotation from the Institute’s namesake:

No country can be free without religion. It creates and strengthens the notion of duty. If men are not kept straight by duty, they must be by fear. The more they are kept by fear, the less they are free. The greater the strength of duty, the greater the liberty.

These words of John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton address the fundamental ordering of a free society, focusing specifically on the role of religion and duty in fostering true liberty. The relationship between individual freedom, morality, and economic activity is also addressed, and this is an area of study vital to the mission of the Acton Institute.

We promoted the 2000 Lord Acton Essay Contest in seminaries, religious institutions, and universities across the United States and Canada, as well as a number of colleges and seminaries throughout the world. The result was a large pool of essays from which we selected ten finalists. A panel of distinguished judges reviewed and ranked those ten essays according to content and literary style. After compiling the comments of the judges, we selected a first, second, and third place winner, as well as two honorable mentions. The fruition of their time, effort, and scholarship is what you now hold in your hands.

I want to thank all those who submitted essays, our panel of judges, and most especially, the friends and supporters of the Acton Institute for making the 2000 Lord Acton Essay Competition such a success. It is in this way, by equipping the next generation of religious leaders with the tools of sound economic thinking and stimulating their thought, that we will help promote a society that is both free and virtuous.