Sunday, December 10, 2006

Sunday reading

A couple of links:
Dave Walker, who does the cartoons which occasionally appear on this site, has a book out, which (today at least) is in the bestseller lists for Christmas. Find 'The Dave Walker Guide to the Church' here

On todays Guardian online site, there's a story about the Conservative party and their attitude to social issues and family breakdown. What it says about Iain Duncan Smiths report into family breakdown is very interesting, at last politicians are starting to wake up to the toll that absent fathers and family breakdown is taking on the health of our communities and citizens. The report notes that Duncan Smiths report comes out just after 2 Tory MP's have split from their wives, so well done to IDS for having the courage to tell the truth, even if its an inconvenient truth.

However, this isn't new information. A study of the effect of absent fathers, 'Experiments in Living, the Fatherless Family' was published by the thinktank 'Civitas' 4 years ago. If you have the time to read it, it's sobering stuff.

Another tricky pastoral line to walk: compassion for people whose marriages and key relationships have broken down, whilst at the same time being able to say that there are better and worse ways of structuring adult relationships, and that God's way is better.

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