“I want to declare a war,” I said half-seriously, “on all the organizations, ministries and financial planners encouraging people not to trust their children.”

My father had a life removed from us we knew little about until we were grown. It was only a few years before he died that I understood why. We talked about it on a series of trips we took as father and son when he was losing his health, and we knew it was just a matter of time before he could not travel at all. It was on our first of these trips that he told me about New York City and the Waldorf Astoria. Dad grew up in the poorest parts of Nashville, Tennessee. He was always a misfit there. While others resigned themselves to a life…

My friend Randy Samelson at Counsel & Capital is funding a prize for the best annual report designed for Randy and other “left-brain” donors. I am calling it the Mr. Spock Prize, and I thought some friends might be interested in applying for the prize as well as my response to Randy’s generous initiative. Dear Randy, Thank you for sending me your proposal to sponsor a $50,000 prize for the nonprofit or church that produces the best annual report for “left-brain donors.” As you probably know, while printed annual reports represent a significant expense for nonprofits (and there are even prizes for print design and graphics), they remain unread by…

People allowed to believe they deserve protection from consequences are far more damaged than merely spoiled. They are destined for a life of dependence on others to rescue them and, ultimately, despair.

It was Harry Truman who said, “My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference.” Mark Twain wrote, “Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” H.L. Mencken was ruthless in his criticism of the political class, “If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner.” Will Rogers, while kinder overall, still found politicians easy targets during the Depression, “The United States Senate opens with a prayer and closes with an investigation.” So, it…

In “Where Good Ideas Come From” Steven Johnson uses the illustration of a coral reef as an example of a structure that is both fragile and still able to withstand the incessant pounding of waves and storms. He quotes Charles Darwin’s first experience with reefs and his amazement they were able to withstand the violent surges of water, “The ocean throwing its waters over the broad reef appears an invincible, all-powerful enemy; yet we see it resisted, and even conquered, by means which at first seem most weak and inefficient…Yet, these low insignificant coral-islets stand and are victorious: for here another power, as an antagonist, takes part in the contest.…

Roger Thurow was a longtime foreign correspondent in Africa and Europe for The Wall Street Journal and was also the co-author of ENOUGH: Why the World’s Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty. He visited with me several years ago as he was writing his book and doing interviews for other projects. His first question was, “Why is it just now that evangelicals like Rick Warren and others are getting engaged in social justice issues?” This was in 2007 – the 200th-year anniversary of the signing of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act that ended the slave trade in the British colonies. That date seemed like a good place…

I mentioned last week that tomorrow I am moderating a panel, “How To Help The Poor: Religious Perspectives on the Least of These,” for the annual meeting of the Philanthropy Roundtable. I’ve been reading a sampling of the writings of the panelists — Brian Fikkert, Samuel Gregg and Yossi Prager — and came across this essay in The American Spectator by Samuel Gregg, “Our Sentimental Humanitarian Age.” I was so taken with it that I asked him if I could republish it for my blog today. He agreed and I want to encourage you to read it. I’ll be back next week.   I always thought it would be difficult to imagine…

There has been a recent flurry of articles by the World Bank, Nick Kristof in The New York Times, Andrew Mayeda in Benchmark and others about the progress in the elimination of extreme poverty in the world. Multiple studies are showing better than expected results in the reduction of extreme poverty around the world. Their main measure of success is based on the World Bank’s decision to raise its definition of extreme poverty to income of $1.90 per day, from $1.25. Of course, there have been other articles, notably Jason Hickel writing in Al Jazeera, that these reports have been intentionally distorted and based on faulty data. Hickel believes that…

At a dinner this week I was asked the question, “Would you vote for an atheist for President?” In the past that would have been rhetorical as I have yet to meet an atheist running for political office so have never thought about the notion of how that might affect their decisions. Of course, we’ve had brushes in the not-too-distant past with well-intentioned evangelicals deeply worried about electing John Kennedy as a Catholic President. More recently, Dr. Ben Carson, a Seventh Day Adventist, has been criticized for doubting a Muslim could serve as President because their theology and worldview would be incompatible with the principles of a democracy. Catholic, Mormon…