"Talking about ethics is not an easily embraced conversation in today’s electrified political society, but Michael Jones, Mark Farnham, and David Saxon talk through 15 ethical topics in their new book Talking About Ethics: A Conversational Approach to Moral Dilemmas." - MBBU
"While love as the fulfillment of the law does inform us that law-keeping alone is an inadequate measure of sanctification, that does not mean that law-keeping is optional to sanctification. We still must obey the laws (else why would the NT writers have been so painstaking in giving so many hundreds of them to us?)!" - Mark Snoeberger
"I know that for now I’ve lost the character argument. It’s well-established that a great number of white Evangelicals didn’t truly believe the words they wrote, endorsed, and argued in 1998 and for 18 years until the 2016 election. Oh sure, they thought they believed those words....We may think we possess an array of virtues and beliefs, but we don’t really know who we are or what we believe until those virtues and beliefs are put to the test." - The Dispatch
"Functionally, truth by consensus has stepped up to fill the void left when we, in annoyance, bade objective truth to find quarters somewhere else. How did we get here? To orient ourselves in the current climate of moral reasoning, we need a quick refresher on philosophical developments, starting with the Enlightenment." - Ref21
"Followers of Jesus need not fear artificial intelligence but should realize its continuing development calls for biblical thinking regarding its potential benefits and threats to humanity, a Southern Baptist ethicist writes in a new book." - BPNews
"What exactly do you suggest Christians do? Should they hold their nose and vote for Trump but endeavor to still see him clearly and hold him accountable for his misconduct? Should they vote for Democrats even when Democrats would protect abortion rights and restrict religious freedom? Or should they vote third party or write in a name?" - David French
What is courage? According to the dictionaries courage, or bravery, is the ability to something which frightens one. It is the mental and moral willingness to act on one’s beliefs despite danger, difficulty or disapproval.
It’s important to note individuals who act bravely or exhibit courage aren’t necessarily moral or virtuous. Definitions of morality and virtuousness are subjective and often fluid. These traits are subject to change by the “spirit of the age” and cultural-diversity trends.
A footballer lauded for courageous on-field exploits will lose honor if it emerges that he is a serial rapist. The 9/11 terrorists would have drawn on courage based upon their convictions to fly the planes into the Towers. They were lauded by their Islamic sympathizers. Likewise, western sympathizers often re-imagine terrorists as courageous freedom fighters. Others see them as murderers.
It might take courage for a pregnant girl to walk through a line of pro-life protestors to get to that clinic. But it also takes courage to bring the gospel to that hurting girl against the shouts of the pro-choice community. It takes courage to rob a bank.
So, we can see that courage can be misguided, depending upon our point of view. We all want to be considered courageous. It is a trait found in books and sons and which society admires. But as we’ve seen, it is also up for interpretation.
Is there some standard of courage which Christians should strive after?
Mostly, the sound and fury over Christianity Today’s editorial advocating President Trump’s removal from office seems to be following the now-familiar pattern: reaction aplenty, reflection—not so much.
It seems that “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” cuts both ways. The left wing version (LW) can’t seem to see the difference between Trump and Hitler. The right wing version (RW) seems to have trouble seeing the difference between Trump and the Messiah. These TDS sufferers perceive everyone around them in these extremes as well, so regardless of what’s actually being said, what they hear is binary. Either you’re echoing our (extreme) view and are one of “Us” or you’re one of “Them,” expressing the extreme opposite.
Trump himself suffers from the right wing version of Trump Derangement Syndrome, as his reaction to Mark Galli’s editorial demonstrated. Galli’s analysis offered both positive and negative observations about President Trump, but both Trump and his hordes of fellow TDS-RW sufferers immediately boiled it down to “Doesn’t sound like Us. Must be Them”—or pretended to. I don’t honestly know which is worse.
