A special gracEmail essay Don’t ask this columnist about critical thinking A widely-syndicated opinion piece by Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr. published on March 16, 2007 provides opportunity for a useful exercise in critical thinking. Under the title "Don’t ask this general about morality," Mr. Pitts takes to task Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, who four days earlier expressed publicly his personal conviction that "homosexual acts" are "immoral." The general made his comments during an interview with the Chicago Tribune in which he … [Read more...]
SHOW COUPLE TRUTH AND MERCY
A gracEmail subscriber writes: 'My daughter will soon be receiving her doctorate. I have been looking forward to this, feel proud of her and would like to attend and celebrate with her. However, she and her boyfriend recently started living together. That breaks my heart and I have repeatedly advised her to reconsider. I fear that attending her graduation will condone the situation and that her mother and I will be ashamed and humiliated by being there with her boyfriend. I would really appreciate your advice. * * * Boyfriends come and go but your daughter has only one set of parents. … [Read more...]
NO PARENTAL SHAME
A gracEmail subscriber writes: 'My daughter will soon be receiving her doctorate. I have been looking forward to this, feel proud of her and would like to attend and celebrate with her. However, she and her boyfriend recently started living together. That breaks my heart and I have repeatedly advised her to reconsider. I fear that attending her graduation will condone the situation and that her mother and I will be ashamed and humiliated by being there with her boyfriend. I would really appreciate your advice. * * * Boyfriends come and go but your daughter has only one set of parents. … [Read more...]
SINS AND SINNERS
All sin is sinful and all of us are sinners. Those truths are easily forgotten today, as many "righteous" people seem to limit "sin" to sexual wickedness, of which they are quite sure that God considers homosexual misbehavior to be the very worst sort. Seeking some biblical perspective, I looked up nine major "sin lists" found in the New Testament (Matt. 15:18-19; Rom. 1:28-31; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 4:25-31; Col. 3:5-9; 1 Tim. 1:8-10; 2 Tim. 3:1-5 and Titus 3:3). Taken together, these nine passages identify at least 37 specific sins, which encompass wrong attitudes (14), improper … [Read more...]
