The most egregious abuse of human rights in America is the practice of abortion. Ironically, many so-called civil rights groups support the practice. Be that as it may, I think the subject has been under America’s skin for more than 35 years now. Oddly, we don’t talk about it much. Many of us have been... Continue Reading →
Making Monkeys Out of Parents
Is it ok to lie to public school children about certain “facts” of science in order to “reach” them? Some scientists think it’s more than ok; they think it is necessary to mislead public school kids in order to counter the “subversive” effects of a Christian culture. Read this surprisingly candid blog from Discovery.
Stroup’s Slippery Slope
Christians and ethicists are routinely accused of making a “slippery slope” argument. You know, that is an argument which says we should not do something because it will lead to something worse. Needless to say, making slippery slope arguments never stop people from doing anything because prideful men are confident they will never go as... Continue Reading →
God Is NOT Green
Recently, James Merritt, the young Christian largely responsible for the so-called Southern Baptist Environment & Climate Initiative, declared, “God is green.” I would like to say simply and emphatically, “God is not green.” We do ourselves and the gospel no good when we adopt the categories of postmodern man and conform God to them. ... Continue Reading →
Scientists Monkey with DNA
Here is a great place to restart the blog. Princeton ethics professor Peter Singer and others have been working feverishly to convince us that we are nothing more than animals. As Jiminy Cricket used to sing, “You are a human animal.” Only, Singer and the others won't go as far as Jiminy. They won’t agree that... Continue Reading →
Transgendered
A subtle switch of language has us bamboozled into believing that sex is morphous. It used to be that applications and personal information forms asked us to report our sex, leaving us with only the obvious choices of male (if we wore pants) and female (if we wore dresses). Now, however, the times have changed and that which used to be obvious... Continue Reading →
I Told You So
I wrote some time ago about this Texas child custody case involving the Mormon sexual abuse allegations. Now, the case has been thrown out because the state acted too hastily in condemning all the parents because of the possible misdeeds of a few. Perhaps there was warrant for an investigation into the Mormon cult concerning... Continue Reading →
L.A. Church Shooting
I am not sure if this report hit the mainstream media airwaves, but I am positive it would have been considered a much bigger story if a mosque had been involved. As it is, a gunman attacked a church festival, opening fire on the crowd, injuring three, including his own wife (on purpose). One of the innocent... Continue Reading →
Emergency Prayer for Myanmar
As cynics scoff and agnostics yawn, Christians, once again, are getting to work both praying for and providing relief to Myanmar. I have linked a story here about the tragedy in Myanmar and about the work that one Christian organization is doing to provide relief for the tens of thousands who have lost everything. This... Continue Reading →
Back to Consequences
Ok, we took a detour to the movies. Now, back to ethics. We have looked at Shaw's plea for choosing the action that brings about the best consequences. Today, we will hear from Peter Vallentyne on why Consequentialism cannot stand alone. Peter Vallentyne takes issue with the kind of consequentialism proposed by William Shaw. Vallentyne... Continue Reading →
I Am Legend
Ok, I need to take a break today from outlines of ethics and offer a brief critique of the movie I Am Legend. I wasn't sure of what to make of this movie from the previews, but I can tell you that I was pleasantly surprised at how the movie turned out. There was no... Continue Reading →
Action Consequences
William Shaw, “The Consequentialist Perspective,” in Contemporary Debates in Moral Theory, James Dreier, editor (Blackwell Publishing: Malden, 2006), 5-20. Shaw, not a professing Christian as far as I know, approaches ethics from a consequentialist perspective. The consequentialist views rightness or wrongness as a consequence of action. If you choose to swerve your car so... Continue Reading →
Muslim Milestones
Seyyid Qutb, Milestones, Dr al-Ilm (Damascus, Syria). (I have heard it pronounced "Koot-buh," with the last syllable pronounced very quickly). This is a book Dr. Mark Coppenger describes as “bed-time reading for Osama bin Laden.” This book was referenced by both Huckabee and Romney in the Republican presidential debates. At any rate, this book... Continue Reading →
James Cone Black Liberation
I am beginning a new series of book reviews for you. Each day, I will put out a new book review for you in the area of ethics. Many of you keep up with theology and biblical studies, but you may not be as familiar with ethics. Ethics is, of course, an area that affects... Continue Reading →
San Angelo
Ok, loudly and clearly, let's all agree it is wrong to force children to marry adults. Laws against statutory rape are (we can agree) very good laws. Adults do not have any business having sexual intercourse with children. These things being said, I have some questions about the LDS sect in San Angelo. More than... Continue Reading →
Gregory C. Cochran 