A Place to Stand | June 2021
Leading with love | Passing on the faith | Why we should read “problematic” books | The truth in socialism
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Leading with love
Leaders should put character at the heart of decision-making.
In January 2007, Wesley Autrey was waiting for New York’s subway when he saw a young man suffer a seizure and fall on the tracks in front of an oncoming train. Leaving his daughters in the care of another bystander, he jumped onto the tracks to pull the man to safety only to realise there was no time. Instead, Autrey dragged him into a drainage trench and protected the man with his own body. The train passed over both of them, “close enough to leave grease on [Autrey’s] cap,” but he and the young man lived. It’s an inspiring story, and it also reveals a deeper truth—that moments of pressure and adversity strip away all our facades and reveal who we really are, and what really drives our decisions. Continue reading
Passing on the faith
Research sheds light on how parents can help their children grow up in their faith
Many religious parents wonder how they can pass on their faith to their children. Most probably don’t just wonder; they worry, at least occasionally. And that makes sense. If you believe that the purpose of life has been revealed, you want to pass that on to those you love the most and you fear that those beliefs might not stick. So the research findings of sociologist Christian Smith are equal parts encouraging and terrifying for parents like us. Continue reading
Why we should read “problematic” books
Books from no-man’s land have much to teach us.
Imagine you’re reading a book and it’s making you uncomfortable. Maybe it promotes ideas you think are wrong and offensive. Maybe it contains outdated assumptions or stereotypes. Maybe it seems to perpetuate a historical privilege that’s been afforded to members of certain groups. Should you put the book down? Should you even try to prevent others from reading it, especially if they’re children or young adults? Or should you keep reading? Continue reading
The truth in socialism
Part IV of our exploration of Roger Scruton’s “How to be a Conservative”
How many children are living in poverty? According to one common measurement, almost 28 percent or 319,000 children. But on another measurement, it’s more like 11 percent, or 130,000 children. That’s a big difference, and it exists because the two measurements are looking at fundamentally different things. The first is measuring “income poverty,” specifically how many kids are living in houses with income below 60 percent of the median income. The second is looking at “material hardship,” meaning the number of kids living in houses that are going without certain basic goods, like trips to the dentist or suitable shoes and clothes. So which poverty measure should you use? Continue reading
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