Joel Mathis

Before bedtime, discussion with my son turned to talk of morals and ethics. I want him to aspire to both justice and compassion -- and sometimes (according to my Mennonite understanding of how the world should work) that means having compassion for people who act unjustly.* *I don't expect other people, especially victims of injustice, to do this. It's how I roll. Talk turned to Donald Trump, of course. How do you have compassion for Donald Trump? My usual approach -- when I am the person I want to be -- is to look for redeeming qualities in the person I find frustrating. Most people are a mix! Even many genuinely terrible people have some redeeming quality. I cannot discern a redeeming quality in Donald Trump. Not as a public man. Not as a private person, at least from what I know of him that way. (Which is too much.) Which means I don't know how to have compassion for Donald Trump.  It's not a matter of him deserving it. It's a matter of me practicing an ethic tha

My last post on spanking generated quite a bit of discussion at my Facebook page . My position—then and now—is that I have spanked, but within a very strict framework that limits spank-worthy situations. And, I added, not everybody has control enough of their emotions that they should use spanking; it's too easy to let anger take over and turn a swat on the behind into something abusive. Let me revise and amend my remarks, in light of this New York Times story about spanking advocates Michael and Debi Pearl, and their followers who apparently killed their child. Debate over the Pearls’ teachings , first seen on Christian Web sites, gained new intensity after the death of a third child, all allegedly at the hands of parents who kept the Pearls’ book, “To Train Up a Child,” in their homes. On Sept. 29, the parents were charged with homicide by abuse.  More than 670,000 copies of the Pearls’ self-published book are in circulation, and it is especially popular among Christian home

The Welsh assembly seems to think so . And admittedly, I thought the idea sounded silly—like a bit of overwrought European do-gooderism, until I hit upon this quote: Christine Chapman, one of the backbenchers who put forward a motion to the assembly to outlaw smacking, said she was delighted that members had backed the principle of a ban. She said: "This is a moral victory, an important step. But in the end we must get legislation against smacking." Chapman said the UK was "out of step" with many countries around the world that had outlawed slapping. It was against the law to hit adults and it was "nonsensical" that it was deemed acceptable to hit children, she said. And that's a good point. Generally speaking, it's illegal for me to hit a person not in my care—but it's legal (within parameters) for me to spank a small, mostly defenseless person who depends on me for life? I haven't spanked my 3-year-old son for while. But. There was a

Via Julie Ponzi , Jules Crittenden wonders why Barack Obama can't nominate "soccer moms who went to a state school" to the Supreme Court: I’d add that President Obama seems bent on packing the court with people who never had children, and would suggest that if you haven’t had your sleep disturbed for years on end; haven’t subjugated everything in your life to someone else’s interests … as opposed to subjugating everything to your career interests … and neve changed a diaper except, say, as a boutique experience; if you haven’t seen your hopes and dreams grow up, charge off in their own direction and start talking back to you; if you haven’t dealt with abuse of authority and human rights issues sometimes encountered in dealings with obtuse school officials, class bullies and town sports leagues; then there’s a high risk your understanding of life may be somewhat … academic. It’s a humbling experience, parenthood. As well as an inspiring one that gives life meaning. It