Why Friday was Black and Blue

TweetThe AP headline on the front page of Sunday’s paper read “Why Friday was Black and Blue”. In case you haven’t heard, the biggest shopping day of the year had some ugly elements to it: –a woman in Los Angeles was so intent on getting at a crate of Xbox video games that she pepper-sprayed [...]

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People Over Profits: Faulty Logic

TweetOne of the consistent signs exhibited at the OWC (Occupy Wall Street) protests is the slogan: “People Over Profits”. If you hear them chanting anything, it will probably be this slogan. It is intended to make the reader or hearer believe two things: –1st that people and profits are a contradiction. That is, one can [...]

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The Roots of Moral Authority

Tweet“Be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” Leviticus 19:2 I’m in Washington DC, participating in Chuck Colson’s Simulcast on Ethics: Doing the Right Thing. He asked me to address “the roots of moral authority”. It was an interesting topic, because we seldom challenge another’s basis for saying something is “right” or “wrong”. [...]

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Ethics: 6. What should ethics in public life look like?

Tweet“What should ethics in public life look like?” This is the last question in Chuck Colson’s “Doing the Right Thing” series. It is basically asking about ethics in the political arena. Wow! Is this a loaded question or what? There have to be a million jokes about politicians. I’m sorry to say that none of [...]

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Ethics: 5. What should ethics in the marketplace look like?

TweetWhat should ethics in the marketplace look like? Well, we can’t answer this one very well without asking the “design” question first: “What should the marketplace look like?” To a large extent, our understanding of “right” and “wrong” is aided immensely when we first get a handle on the true design. Without that, we could [...]

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Ethics: 4. What does it mean to be human?

TweetThis, too, is a huge question that must be narrowed down to the issue of ethics. Let me reframe it this way: Is there something unique about the human being that demands ethical behavior–either from him or towards him? To clarify this, let’s use an example. If a bee possesses honey, is it ethically wrong [...]

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Ethics: 3. If we know what is right, can we do it?

Tweet“If we know what is right, can we do it?” This is the third topic in Chuck Colson’s DVD Series: Doing the Right Thing. This question may seem tame, but it can actually lead us into some very deep theological discussions. Since we can’t do that here, I want to address only two of its [...]

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Response to My Dear Brother, Coby

TweetCoby, I couldn’t fit my response to you in the comment area, so I have to make it a separate post. We are subject to the limitations of our means! Also, the only way that I can do this is to highlight some of your statements and respond to them. I appreciate everything that you [...]

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Ethics: 2. Is there truth and a moral law we can all know?

Tweet[continued from here and here] This is essentially asking if there is a transcendent ethical standard that exists beyond the individual and if so, can we all know it. Our culture is deeply divided over such a question, though we never really ask it out loud, for to do so would expose our deep relativism [...]

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Ethics: 1. How did we get into this mess?*

TweetI suppose we ought to first of all ask the question “Are we in an ethical mess?” For some, the answer may be a quick “yes” and for others it may be a quick “no”. For many, there may be contrary arguments as to what constitutes the “mess”. After all, if one’s trash can be [...]

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