Don’t give up faith

Columnist Michael Gerson recently had an editorial entitled “Will humans of tomorrow give up faith, meaning” where he laments the dystopia of Yuval Harari’s book “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow.” I share Gerson’s concern and want to recommend one organization that is striving to prevent this dystopia: the “Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty” in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their mission can be capsulized with the concept of “faith and freedom,” the idea that it is not enough to be free (as many libertarians would argue) but we must also be good. This is where religion comes in. The fact that both faith and freedom are important is the subject of the annual four day “Acton University.” They have over 1000 participants from over 80 countries and there is a heavy emphasis on clerics from various faiths. (The lectures can also be found on Acton.org.) I have attended this conference four years in a row and would recommend it to anyone interested in helping to avoid the “tomorrow” that is lamented by Gerson.