Looking for Heroes in the Beta Male Age

October 09, 2015    

Looking for Heroes in the Beta Male Age Last week, 30-year-old Army veteran and college student Chris Mintz braved bullets to save lives in Oregon. Mintz's actions are rare, and likely more rare than they should be. Too often these days we hear about weak modern men, so-called beta males who are unwilling to risk their safety on another's behalf. The embodiment of this new archetype was the man who did nothing as a man stabbed another man to death with a pocket knife on a crowded Washington DC, subway car the afternoon of July 4, and then took to Reddit to justify his cowardice. . . . Some readers were outraged when I wrote about that—not at the bystander but at me, for suggesting he was a coward. . . Whether the man was a coward or confused or simply panicked is not the point. As the author, John Daniel Davidson, put it, the point is this: I do not claim to know how I would have reacted, either in that subway car or the community college in Oregon. None of us do. But every man and woman should be able to say, clear-eyed and without hesitation, that we hope we'd react the way Mintz did last week.

'To Whom Do Children Belong?' The answer seems easy—their parents, of course—until you examine how courts and governments often act. This article looks at the issue, first by noting one implication of Obergefell: The view of marriage as a mere creature of the state to be redefined at will goes hand in hand with the idea that children "belong" primarily to the state, which then delegates (limited) childrearing authority to whomever the state defines as the child's parents. At points the author seems to exaggerate the threat, but she does raise an issue that we should not and cannot ignore. For if she is right that legal and judicial trends assume children belong to the state, we've got a problem on our hands. If you're interested in her "Defense of Parental Authority," read the article.

The Upside of Being a Burden Yes, there is one, as Joni Eareckson Tada explains: The best of believers will be quick to say, "I don't want to be a burden on my family, and I will do everything I can to see that I'm not!" They assume they are doing their family members a Christian service, as if it were their duty not to have to depend on anyone for help. Yet this is what families were designed for—especially Christian families. The Christian family showcases to the world that sacrificial service is normal.

Harvard-Smart Inmates Thankfully, we're hearing more and more talk these days about reforming our prison system. Maybe teaching inmates to debate—and debate well enough to defeat Harvard University's champion debate team—is one way to go.

Grace and peace,

Mark Galli Editor, Christianity Today