And Now the News

Taken from the headlines, these stories reflect the wide variety of moral and ethical issues facing the world today:

• Brittany Maynard, a 29 y.o. woman with brain cancer has arranged to commit the physician-assisted suicide permissible under law in Oregon [1]. Ms. Maynard has publicized her plight on social media.

• Alabama preacher, Juan McFarland acknowledges having slept with female parishioners at the Shiloh Baptist Church, despite having AIDs [2]. By his own admission, McFarland has, also, engaged in drug use and mishandled church funds. He has been removed as pastor.

• Uruguay, a South American country with a population less than that of Los Angeles, is accepting former detainees at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo, and refugees from the Syrian civil war (most of them children) [3]. According to Pres. Jose Mujica, “We wanted to earn the right to tell the rest of the world that there are other solutions, that we can take care of these children in other countries.”

• A Hindu Indian and an Islamic Pakistani have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize [4]. This has astounded observers which, itself, speaks volumes. Kailash Satyarthi has protested for decades against child slavery and the financial exploitation of children in India. Malala Yousafzay – at 17 y.o. the youngest ever winner – was shot in the head by the Taliban two years ago for advocating the education of Pakistani girls. She has since spoken on the importance of education at the United Nations.

Once the majority of these issues would have been assessed within a Judeo-Christian framework. Those days are gone. Fewer and fewer Westerners adhere to a Christian worldview. Standards have become fluid, if they exist at all. Even Christians are likely to be short on discernment, and long on ignorance about the Scriptures.

This should trouble us. We were called to love our neighbor; we were called to evangelize the world. There are lives – earthly and eternal – at stake.

“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another…” (1 John 3: 10-11).

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[1] Yahoo! Health, “One Woman’s Quest to Die with Dignity – and What It Means for Us All” by Ryan Wallace, 10/7/14, https://www.yahoo.com/health/one-womans-quest-to-die-with-dignity-and-what-it-means-99374572007.html.

[2] Fox 8 Cleveland, “Pastor Admits to Having Aids, Sleeping with Church Members” by CNN Wire, 10/9/14, http://fox8.com/2014/10/09/preacher-admits-to-having-aids-sleeping-with-church-members/.

[3] USA Today, “Tiny Uruguay Plays Big Role in Syria” by Alan Gomez, 10/10/14, News, p. 5A.

[4] CNN World, “Malala Yousafzay and Kailash Satyarthi Share Nobel Peace Prize” by Laura Smith-Spark, 10/10/14, http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/10/world/europe/nobel-peace-prize/index.html.

READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse  http://www.avoicereclaimed.com