NEWS FEATURE: Think Tank Seeks to Blend Conservative Theology, Free Enterprise

c. 2000 Religion News Service GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. _ An African bishop sees hope for his country’s future in the ideas bubbling out of a Grand Rapids think tank. Bishop Bernard Njoroge Kariuki, who oversees half a million Episcopal Church members in Kenya, recently spent a weekend in Florida with 26 seminarians and clergy from […]

c. 2000 Religion News Service

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. _ An African bishop sees hope for his country’s future in the ideas bubbling out of a Grand Rapids think tank.

Bishop Bernard Njoroge Kariuki, who oversees half a million Episcopal Church members in Kenya, recently spent a weekend in Florida with 26 seminarians and clergy from around the world, discussing how faith can help create a virtuous and prosperous society.


The session was sponsored by the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, which from its bookish office in downtown Grand Rapids quietly crusades for the wedding of religious freedom with free enterprise.

Acton’s critics _ and there are plenty _ say that is just sprinkling holy water on unbridled capitalism. Not Bishop Kariuki. He is returning to Kenya hoping to persuade leaders that good morals and good business go hand in hand.

“I think what they have is what is needed in the Third World,” said Kariuki, 50. He says Acton’s arguments make perfect sense for a country struggling with famine and corruption. “Tying together morality with economic development is going to work wonders.”

Kariuki’s words gratify the men who founded Acton 10 years ago in the upstairs apartment of a flower shop. Today, it boasts 27 staffers, a $3 million budget and a front-row seat at congressional hearings and international conferences.

“That’s all we ever wanted, was just to get to the table,” said the Rev. Robert Sirico, a Roman Catholic priest and Acton’s president. “Then the arguments themselves will either be persuasive or be knocked down.”

Backed by an impressive list of wealthy givers, Acton has grown into a multifaceted nonprofit organization, reaching far beyond its west Michigan home base.

It recently held a symposium in Connecticut on welfare reform, and soon will help organize a conference at the Vatican on the global economy and the family. Next year it will stage 16 student conferences as far away as Brazil and Prague, conduct retreats for executives and publish at least 10 books.


Within its expanding quarters, scholars churn out journals and papers on topics such as debt forgiveness and the biblical foundations of business ethics. Computer wizards fashion a Web site in Chinese and Spanish while staffers plan a Center for Entrepreneurial Stewardship.

Meanwhile, Sirico gives his sharp, conservative take on economic and social issues in Wall Street Journal Op-Ed pieces, national media interviews and Acton’s flagship publication, Religion & Liberty.

All this fits into a philosophical framework that asserts human freedom is best served by free markets regulated more by conscience than government.

“Our whole worldview is freedom is necessary but not sufficient for the good society,” said co-founder and executive director Kris Mauren. “We want a society that is free and virtuous, where people act for the common good.”

In Acton’s book, that means less government interference, more individual responsibility and a greater appreciation by clergy and corporations of the moral obligations of business.

If those look like the convictions of staunch Republicans such as Acton board member Betsy DeVos, Mauren insists Acton rejects political labels.


“We look at everything from the view of human freedom. `Does this promote human freedom?’ If the answer is yes, we’re generally for it.”

But critics contend Acton conveniently lends a Christian veneer to right-wing causes. The Rev. George Heartwell, a local social activist, has said Sirico provides “a theological justification for the accumulation of wealth.”

Sirico insists he is “not a preacher of the free market,” but is primarily concerned with tying economics to moral principles he believes will benefit the poor and wealthy alike. Some of his stands, such as calling for an end to the Cuba trade embargo, have miffed some conservatives, he says.

“I can’t say that I don’t err in terms of my own pride,” he said of his high profile. “But I know that my conscience is clear. What I’m doing is motivated essentially out of a sincere conviction that these insights need to be shared for the sake of vulnerable peoples.”

It was their shared convictions that motivated Sirico and Mauren to organize Acton, beginning with a student seminar funded by both Democrats and Republicans.

They met at a Bible study in 1986, when Sirico was a graduate student at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and Mauren was studying economics at Johns Hopkins University. They clicked on religious and economic issues, including Sirico’s concerns about liberation theology, a Marxist-influenced approach to poverty then popular in seminaries.


They organized a campus seminar featuring three economists, with funding from the student clubs of both political parties. About 100 students paid $5 to attend. Its “Who’s Afraid of Freedom?” They jokingly call that Acton’s first seminar. But the vision didn’t crystallize until four years later, when Sirico was a priest in Grand Rapids and Mauren was working for Westin Hotels in Hawaii. While in Guatemala delivering a paper on liberation theology, Sirico approached an international foundation official, Alejandro Chafuen, about funding for a research assistant. Chafuen told him, “You’re thinking too small. You need to institutionalize yourself.” Sirico did, enlisting Mauren to help run the operation on a trial basis. Chafuen now sits on Acton’s board of directors. “I had this sense the timing was right,” recalled Sirico, 49. “Nobody was doing it.” Helped by $80,000 from a Chicago philanthropist, they set up an office in Mauren’s apartment. They outgrew it in a year, moving to another building with three full-time employees. Since 1991, the institute has grown steadily in resources and scope. Though Mauren and Sirico are Catholic, two-thirds of their staff is Protestant, and its conferences attract a wide range of religions and nationalities. In 1995, it crested $1 million in revenues, mostly from foundations, individuals and corporate contributions, and it is projected to top $3 million this year. Donations come from nearly 4,000 givers, ranging from a few bucks to $100,000. Sirico flatly denies any money comes with ideological strings attached. “I have never had anybody come to us and attempt to pressure us to say something we didn’t believe in,” Sirico said. Sirico relishes the fray of conflicting ideas, saying, “It’s easy to respect people you agree with. The challenge is to respect people you don’t agree with.” Many don’t agree with him, including Ben Haven, a student intern at the institute. The Calvin College freshman says he leans toward socialism but feels welcome at Acton. “It’s a great environment,” said Haven, 18, who works on the Acton Web site. “We can challenge each other’s beliefs and learn from each other.” Sidney Jansma Jr. said he learned much at an Acton retreat for business executives aimed at integrating faith into their businesses. The president and CEO of Wolverine Gas & Oil Co. said the retreat reinforced his belief that businessmen need to be good stewards of their God-given resources. “Their greatest contribution is legitimizing conservative thought from a Christian perspective,” said Jansma, 57. That’s exactly what some critics object to. The Rev. Michael Crosby is a Catholic friar active with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, which tries to promote social justice through corporate investments. Crosby says Acton’s conservative bias skews Catholic social teachings that emphasize the economy’s effects on the poor. “They not only sprinkle holy water, they canonize capitalism,” said Crosby, of Milwaukee. Sirico, he adds, “acts as a religious legitimator of the status quo, and he blinks at the fallout.” Sirico says Crosby has an “anti-business mentality,” adding, “He loves the poor so much, he advocates policies that ensure there will be a lot more of them.” (BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM _ STORY MAY END HERE) Peter Vander Meulen gives Acton credit for tackling political and economic issues based on Christian teachings. He does the same, as coordinator for social justice and hunger action with the Christian Reformed Church and a principal organizer of the local Call to Renewal anti-poverty coalition. But Vander Meulen says Acton is fighting for the wrong things, such as defense of private property as the basis of creating wealth, while neglecting needs of the poor. “The Acton Institute is defending, from a Christian perspective, those of us who really don’t need any defending,” Vander Meulen said. A CRC colleague, however, says Acton provides a “thoughtful alternative” to the leftward bias of much academic and religious economic thought. John Bolt, a professor at Calvin Theological Seminary, said Acton’s views are refreshing and “rooted in a profoundly Christian commitment.” Admitting his views are easily caricatured as “country-club theology,” Sirico insists concern for the poor and vulnerable is at the heart of Acton’s mission. “The church’s social teaching is formed to protect the vulnerable,” Sirico said. “I think a free economy tends to benefit the poor to a greater extent than a controlled economy does.” DEA END HONEY

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