Questions about what makes a good or a bad leader dominate many conversations as we approach the 2016 presidential election. Real leadership happens all around us, not just in the Oval Office. As we pulled together the various pieces for this Summer 2016 issue of Religion & Liberty, the informal theme of leadership seemed to connect all the content. For the interview, I was able to sit down with the CEO of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Cheryl Bachelder, to discuss her unique approach to leading the casual fried chicken corporation. Rev. Robert Sirico also addresses leadership in his column as he asks the question, Where are the leaders? He reflects on the legacies of Reagan, Thatcher and John Paul II, and contemplates the qualities that make for a truly great leader.
Sam Webb reviews Eric Metaxas’ latest book, If You Can Keep It. Metaxas returns, albeit with seemingly rose-colored glasses, to America’s founding. “The American experiment is exceptional,” Webb writes, “and must be kept for future generations.”
Rev. Johannes Jacobse, disappointed that so many millennials chose Bernie Sanders as their ideal political leader, argues in a new essay that this generation should read Solzhenitsyn. People, especially young men and women, are too ignorant when it comes to basic economics and the destruction that socialism ultimately causes.
For the final review, Stephen Schmalhofer examines George Gilder’s The Scandal of Money: Why Wall Street Recovers but the Economy Never Does. There’s plenty of misunderstanding when it comes to money policy, but Gilder’s new book helps clear a few things up. “Fortunately, we have George Gilder,” Schmalhofer argues, “to help us separate the signal from the noise.” Thinking, again, about servant leadership, this issue’s Double- Edged Sword highlights Mark 1 and the calling of several disciples. Christ called everyday and seemingly unimportant individuals to be his disciples, and “this fact reinforces the humility and importance of ordinary leaders in God’s church.”
You can expect some changes very soon at Acton.org. Kris Mauren explains why Acton is overhauling its website in the latest Acton Frequently Asked Question. In the Liberal Tradition summarizes the life and work of writer Jeremias Gotthelf, who is not widely known to English readers but is an influential author in his homeland of Switzerland. Gotthelf began writing on political topics for newspapers but eventually wrote novels and novellas that dealt with serious subjects, such as rural alcoholism, the need for education reform and the dangers of an overreaching secular state.
