The Rector's Stand on Moral Issues

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"Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie."
                              -William Shakespeare

   The first goal here is to offer better and informed guidance on moral issues for this congregation.
   The second goal is to enter into the journey of that portion of philosophy which we call 'ethics', particularly Christian ethics.
   I have learned that there is a difference between opinion, informed opinion, and a 'developing' informed opinion. A developing informed ethical opinion is (at least it has been for me) a 'moving target'. For instance, as one studies and learns more about an 'issue', one's opinion becomes more informed and the definition of that ethical subject becomes refined.
   One then ponders about what is 'definitive' in ethical evaluations. Obviously, for me, a Christian, it is the Word of God. I am very thankful the Bible gives me a worldview with boundaries that keeps me, the ethical student, from drowning in a sea of unending words and thoughts.
   The third goal is to help people learn how to talk with one another without posturing, becoming judgmental, and/or brutish in conversations about ethical issues.
   The fourth goal is to 'stand in the gap'.
 
   Although there are many, here are a few links to internet sites on ethics:

BBC - Religion & Ethics
Christian Ethics Today
PBS - Religion & Ethics Newsweekly

The Rev. Dr. Al W. Jenkins
Rector

Updated December 22nd

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ETHICS

Definition: Ethics is a very broad subject. Generally, it refers to the principles that define behavior. Biblical ethics refers to the principles that define behavior that conforms to the will of God in Holy Scripture. Specifically, ethics is the branch of axiology – one of the four major branches of philosophy, alongside metaphysics, epistemology, and logic – which attempts to understand the nature of morality; to define that which is right from that which is wrong. The Western tradition of ethics is sometimes called moral philosophy.
   The terms 'ethics' and 'values' are not interchangeable. Ethics is concerned with 'how' a person, institution, etc. should behave, whereas values are the inner judgments that determine how that person, institution, etc. 'actually' behaves.
   Making decisions always involves ethics and ethics requires sensitivity to implications of choices - the ability to evaluate sometimes complex, ambiguous and incomplete facts, and the skill to implement an ethical choice(s).
   It requires a framework of principles that are reliable and a procedure (model) for applying them to life. The study of ethics is a flexible discipline because it implies that a Christian is growing and therefore changing as one learns from life, history, theology, philosophy, and other disciplines.
Character: There are six pillars to character. They are trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.
   The elements of trustworthiness are honesty, reliability, and loyalty.
   The elements of respect are civility, courtesy, decency, dignity, autonomy, tolerance, and acceptance.
   The elements of responsibility are accountability, pursuit of excellence, and self-restraint.
   The elements of fairness are being able and willing to process, impartiality, and equity.
   The elements of caring are empathy and benevolence.
   The elements of citizenship are civic virtues and duties.
   Please visit the Josephson Institute of Ethics or Character Counts.

HUMAN SANCTITY & MEDICINE

Abortion: There are no Christian justifications for taking the life of a baby in the womb of its mother for convenience or medical research.
   Abortion can be appropriate if there is a known medical risk that the mother might die or suffer a lifelong disability due to the pregnancy or delivery. Abortion can also be appropriate if the baby has a major life-threatening deformity or disability and the child will not enjoy a reasonable quality of life.
   Any decision about abortion should be weighed closely with medical, psychological, social, and spiritual advice.
Law and Right to Die - The term "right to die", also called dying with dignity, refers to various issues around the death of an individual when that person could continue to live with the aid of life support or in a diminished or enfeebled capacity.
   Most often, the idea of the right to die is related to a person's wish that caregivers allow death—for example, by not providing life support or vital medication— under certain conditions when recovery is highly unlikely or impossible. It may also refer to issues regarding physician-assisted suicide. It may be called passive euthanasia in cases where the patient is unable to make decisions about treatment. Living Wills and Do Not Resuscitate orders are legal instruments that make a patient's treatment decisions known ahead of time and allowing a patient to die based on such decisions is not considered to be euthanasia. Usually these patients have also made explicit their wish to receive only palliative care to reduce pain and suffering.
   Although specialized legal instruments differ from state to state, there is one document that is very important in this context. The Medical Durable Power of Attorney (or MDPOA) designates an agent to make decisions in case of incapacity, and can be used to give written guidance regarding end of life decision making. The MDPOA is generally considered to be the most powerful of all such instruments. All others may require interpretation on the part of health care providers or even court-appointed guardians. The MDPOA takes the job of interpretation out of the hands of strangers and gives it to a person selected and trusted by the individual.
Termination of Life Support - Life support can morally be withdrawn when a person is pronounced brain dead. Brain death is defined as a complete and irreversible cessation of brain activity. Absence of apparent brain function is not enough. Evidence of irreversibility is also required. Traditionally, death has been defined as the cessation of all body functions, including respiration and heartbeat. Since it became possible to revive some people after a period without respiration, heartbeat, or other visible signs of life, as well as to maintain respiration and blood flow artificially using life support treatments, an alternative definition for death was needed. In recent decades, the concept of "brain death" has emerged. By brain-death criteria, a person can be pronounced clinically dead even if the heart continues to beat due to life support measures.
   A brain-dead individual has no electrical activity and no clinical evidence of brain function on neurologic examination and no spontaneous respirations.
Medically Assisted Suicide - This is also called "Physician-Assisted Suicide", which is a media term. It is more accurately rendered "Doctor-Aided Dying" or "Compassionate Aid in Dying." Here the physician may actively serve as a casual agent in the patient's death by providing a medical means by which the patient can take his or her life. This is generally done through a prescription for a lethal dose of medication with the physician providing the instructions as to how much medication to ingest. It is quite uncommon and the AMA strongly opposes this. However, a poll conducted by Harris Interactive in April 2005 found that 70% of Americans believe it is moral. In 1982, just 53% agreed that it was moral. So, it is growing in popularity with the American public. In fact. 67% of Americans surveyed by the Harris poll said they would favor a law like Oregon's Death With Dignity Act in their state.
   The Oregon law, ratified by their voters in 1994 and again in 1997, requires that:
   a. Two doctors certify that the patient has no more than six months to live;
   b. Patients make three requests to the doctor for a lethal dose of medication - twice orally and once in writing.
   c. The prescription is filled only after a 15-day waiting period;
   d. Patients take the drug themselves - the prescribing doctor may not administer the drug.
   Suicide and the involvement of physicians in suicide is immoral.
Extraordinary Medical Treatment - This area of ethics is broad because there are so many situations to which decisions are applied.
   EMT is often applied to those in PVS (Permanent Vegetative State). PVS are those who have lost all higher brain function and for whom the only part of the brain that continues to function is the brain stem, which controls the person's involuntary activities, such as breathing, heartbeat, and digestion. Life support can morally be withdrawn when a physician determines there is no hope for a person to breath on their own.
   EMT is also applied when a patient has been without oxygen for an extended amount of time and a physician determines there could a very significant amount of irreversible brain damage and the patient will never enjoy a reasonable quality of life. In such instances, EMT should not be applied. In some of these instances a member or members of the person's family will insist on EMT, receive it, and the patient will live. That person or the family will then have to be responsible for the care of the patient, which can be very difficult, if not impossible. In those cases, the patient cannot live without extremely expensive state care and extra-ordinary personal and/or family care.
Living Will & DNR Order - Having a Living Will is a very good moral decision. A Living Will, also called Will to Live, Advance Health Directive, or Advance Health Care Directive, is a specific type of power of attorney or health care proxy or advance directive. It is a legal instrument that usually is witnessed or notarized. These documents state:

• That the principal is appointing an individual to direct their health care decisions should the principal be unable to do so (e.g. called "Power of Attorney for Health Care"), or
• Specific directives as to the course of treatment that is to be taken by caregivers, or, in particular, in some cases forbidding treatment and sometimes also nutrition and water, should the principal be unable to give informed consent ("Individual Health Care Instruction") due to incapacity.

As the name suggests, the Will to Live tends to emphasize the wish to live as long as possible rather than refusing treatment in the case of serious conditions.
   A DNR, or Do Not Resuscitate Order is a written directive from a person, their doctor, or someone entitled to make decisions on their behalf, that they should not be revived if they suffer cardiac arrest. This is sometimes known as a no-code order. Instead, the person wishes to have a natural death without painful or invasive medical procedures. This is usually because the person suffers from an inevitably fatal illness, and does not wish to prolong the suffering. The DNR order came into being in the U.S. in the 1960s when defibrillation allowed the reversal of cardiac arrest, but this may prolong the life of the patient for only a short time. In the U.S., cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) should not be performed if a valid written "DNR" order is present. In any cases of doubt, emergency medical technicians, paramedics and other medical workers will perform as if a DNR order did not exist, as is required by law. For the DNR to be valid there may be rules such as the use of a special form and/or additional signatures of a doctor and/or witnesses, etc. The exact rules for obtaining and for emergency medical personnel accepting the validity of a DNR order vary widely according to jurisdiction.
Euthanasia - This is often referred to as "active euthanasia", meaning the patient's life is ended by the direct action of a physician.
   Euthanasia is immoral. One, this prerogative belongs exclusively to God. Two, administering euthanasia leaves no opportunity for a misdiagnosis. Three, euthanasia could move from voluntary to non-voluntary. This might lead to a patient having to justify their existence, if they could. Those with Powers of Attorney and relatives could become tired of a person living for any number of reasons - family pressure, bills, draining an estate, inability to enact wills, 'need to remarry issues', etc. Four, prohibition of euthanasia will keep the law out of the medical setting. Five, euthanasia will open the door to neglect of the elderly and terminally ill. Six, the elderly need a secure setting in which to deal with their medical choices at the end of their life. In particular, they do not need to consider those choices in an atmosphere of fear produced by the possibility of involuntary euthanasia.   
Genetic Technologies - Helpful advances are the use of genetic technologies in forensics and the prevention/cure of diseases.
   Unhelpful advances would be gene enhancement therapies to create designer embryos and genetically engineered children. Eugenics is also immoral. Eugenics is weeding out genetic undesirables in a society.
   Other ethical concerns in genetics are population testing (carrier testing), privacy of personal genetic data, genetic discrimination, genetic stigmatization, and psychological trauma caused by illegal sharing of genetic data - all based on one's genetic profile in genetic registries. It would be morally correct to determine who holds the registries and how the registries would be used. 
Stem Cell Research - Stem cell research is one key to finding cures to such diseases as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis or to treat paralysis. Using adult stem cells is justifiable, but using human embryonic stem cells is immoral.
Birth Control - Among Christians in a stable society, sexual gratification is not made incidental to the enduring partnership of marriage and a home. A married man and woman can control pregnancy by responsible communication, which should be a hallmark in a maturing Christian marriage.
   A pregnancy and the avoidance of disease before marriage can and should be controlled with abstinence by men and women. Abstinence before Christian marriage brings with it many admirable qualities, such as good health, respect, honor, and dignity.
   In unstable societies, for the sake of world heath, birth control is necessary for the prevention of fatal sexually transmitted diseases.
Reproductive Technologies - This is a term for all current and anticipated uses of technology in human and animal reproduction, including:

• artificial insemination
• artificial wombs
• cloning
• cryopreservation of sperm, oocytes, embryos
• embryo testing & transfer
• genetic testing
• hormone treatment to increase fertility
• in vitro fertilization
• preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)
• sperm selection

   Medical research advances quickly and it is important to the church to have a moral position on developing reproductive technologies. To do this, it has to stay informed. Some new technologies are now quite common and helpful to people. Others are questionable.
   The areas that are questionable in ethics are providing anything other than hybrid embryos for medical research, embryonic commerce, cloning, artificial wombs, and aspects of genetic testing.
   The following are morally questionable: using human embryos for research, selling embryos, cloning technology beyond tissue matching, use of artificial wombs beyond endometrial cells, and genetic testing/therapy/informational banks that is/are not highly regulated to protect the public's privacy and to prevent discrimination and racism.

JUSTICE

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th World - The terms First World, Second World and Third World can be used to divide the nations of Earth into three broad categories.
   After World War II, people began to speak of the NATO and Warsaw Pact countries as two major blocs. The two "worlds" were not numbered. It was eventually pointed out that there were many countries that fit into neither category, and in the 1950s this latter group came to be called the Third World. It then began to seem that there ought to be a "First World" and a "Second World."
   Eventually, it became common practice to refer to nations within the Western European and United States' sphere of influence (e.g. the NATO countries) as the First World. Besides North America (USA and Canada) and Western Europe, the First World also included other industrialized capitalist countries such as Japan and some of the former British colonies, particularly Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
   The term Second World has largely fallen out of use because of the circumstances to which it referred largely ended with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
   Third World is a term created by Jawaharlal Nehru (First Prime Minister of India), originally to distinguish nations that aligned with neither the West nor with the East during the Cold War. Today, the term is used to denote nations with a low UN Human Development Index (HDI), independent of their political status. Many "Third World" countries are located in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. They are often nations that were colonized by another nation in the past. Third World countries are generally very poor but with high populations and birth rates. In general, they are not as industrialized or technologically advanced as other countries.
   The majority of the countries in the world are Third World. These countries are also known as the Global South, developing countries, least developed countries and the Majority World in academic circles. Development workers also call them the Two-Thirds world (because two-thirds of the world is underdeveloped) and The South. Some dislike the term ‘developing countries’ as it may imply that economic development is the only way forward, while they believe it is not necessarily the most beneficial. The term Third World is also disliked as it may imply the false notion that those countries are not a part of the global economic system. Some claim that the underdevelopment of Africa, Asia and South America during the Cold War was influenced, or even caused by the Cold War economic, political, and military maneuverings of the most powerful nations of the time.
   The term Fourth World is used by some to describe the poorest Third World countries, those which lack industrial infrastructure and the means to build it. More commonly, however, the term is used to describe either indigenous peoples or other oppressed minority groups within any country.
Civil Rights - Civil rights are the protections and privileges of personal liberty given to all citizens by law. Civil rights can refer to the equal treatment of all citizens irrespective of race, gender, and class – or, it can refer to laws which invoke claims of positive liberty.
   Laws guaranteeing civil rights may be written, derived from custom, or implied. In the United States, civil rights laws are most often written. For example, laws protecting civil rights appear in the Constitution, in the amendments to the Constitution, in federal statues, in state constitutions and statues, and in the ordinances of counties and cities. States and local governments can expand civil rights beyond the U.S. Constitution, but they cannot diminish Constitutional rights.
   Examples of civil rights and liberties include the right to redress if injured by another, the right to privacy, the right of peaceful protest, the right to a fair investigation and trial if suspected of a crime, and more generally-based constitutional rights such as the right to vote, the right to personal freedom, the right to life, the right to freedom of movement and anti-discrimination laws.
   As the United States emerged from its foundations and formalized its principles of freedom through a written Constitution, important civil rights were granted to citizens. When those grants were later found inadequate, civil rights movements emerged as the vehicle for claiming more equal protection for all citizens and advocating new laws to limit the effect of current discriminations.
Class, Privilege, and Wealth - The present state of American culture reflects that social mobility is declining, there is a growing gap in income equality, and there is a crisis in equal opportunity in education. Without correction, a variety of permanent American underclasses will be created. This is immoral.
   In “The Promise of American Life”, Herbert Croly noted that “a democracy, not less than a monarchy or an aristocracy, must recognize political, economic, and social distinctions, but it must also withdraw its consent whenever these discriminations show any tendency to excessive endurance.” So far Americans have been fairly tolerant of economic distinctions. But that tolerance may not last long if the current trend towards “excessive endurance” in class, privilege, and wealth is not reversed. The middle class culture will become much smaller as underclass and upper class cultures become more distinct.
   The Economic Policy Institute found that social mobility has declined since the 1970s and most researchers agree that the dramatic increase in income inequality over the past two decades has not been accompanied by an equally dramatic increase in social mobility. Two economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston have analyzed family incomes over three decades. They found that 40% of families remained stuck in the same income bracket in the 1990s, compared with 37% of families in the 1980s and 36% in the 1970s.
   Merit has replaced the old system of inherited privilege. Merit is at least partly class-based. Parents with money, education and connections cultivate in their children the habits that today’s meritocracy rewards. This is particularly true of the markers of upscale Americans – college degrees, graduate degrees, career path, and the parents’ profession. When their children succeed, their success is seen as earned. The perception among the well-to-do that everyone could simply do likewise and achieve the same results is inaccurate. That we have confused the benefits conferred by wealth with merit says a lot about how far we are from doing something about the growing gap in American social mobility, wealth distribution, and educational opportunity.
   If one can remember that ultimately class, privilege and wealth (money) are passing illusions (because one cannot control or even possess them except for a very limited time) in the greater scheme of life, then one can balance their understanding of eternal matters and act responsibly and morally.
Immigration & Borders - For the preservation of a stable democracy, we have learned since 2001 that it is important and moral to strengthen the porous borders and security of the United States.
   Where people desire to become legal immigrants, they have a right to do so. Illegal immigration is not moral nor is it healthy for the fabric of American society.
Internet Pornography - For a Christian, any kind of pornography is immoral because it is a sexual perversion and it does not represent God's values of decency defined in the Bible.
   Parents have a responsibility to consider installing internet screening software on home computers and computers of children under adult age.
   Those with Christian businesses (as well as pastors with churches) have an equal responsibility to ensure office computers are not being used by employees for pornography. Software exists that will allow supervisors to quickly check a computer for pornographic use.
   The internet is a global information community, so legal precedents are just now 'beginning' to be established. Who decides - global, national, state, or local law? Because of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1973 in Miller vs. California, obscenity cases have been judged according to standards of local communities. The Supreme Court has not ruled on any case that would establish how to define "local standards", but the U.S. 6th District Court of Appeals has upheld a 'local' jury conviction of internet pornography.
Liberal - Liberalism has many definitions. There is classical liberalism, American liberalism, neoliberalism, ordoliberalism, paleoliberalism, and liberal radicalism – even liberal conservatism. There is also political, cultural, social, and economic, and religious liberalism.
   In the US, liberalism is usually contrasted with conservatism, and American liberals support broader tolerance and more readily embrace multiculturalism and affirmative action.
   The term "liberal" (known as the ‘left’) derived from generally the 1700’s and 1800’s – although the term has a very long philosophical history. Liberalism is an ideology which strives to maximize liberty. Liberalism seeks a society characterized by freedom of thought for individuals, limitations on the power of government and various kinds of religious orthodoxy, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a free market economy that supports private enterprise, a system of government that is transparent, and a democracy with open and fair elections - where all citizens have by law equal rights and equal opportunity. Liberalism rejected many foundational assumptions which dominated most earlier theories of government, such as the divine right of kings, hereditary status, and established religion. Classical liberals do not believe in wealth transfers, tariffs, or other trade barriers such as quotas, regulated markets, capital controls, wage and price controls.
   Modern liberalism (American liberalism) tends to deviate from the original definition of the term "liberal" in that it espouses the use of the power of government to achieve a variety of desirable goals, ranging from social justice to economic equality. American liberalism is, therefore, a political current that claims descent from classical liberalism in terms of devotion to individual liberty.
   The U.S. brand of liberalism emphasizes mutual collaboration and consensus-building to solve political problems. A liberal in the United States is likely to favor institutions and political procedures that protect and empower the weak against perceived aggression by the strong and guarantee individual freedom from restrictive social norms. Liberals encourage progressive taxation, minimum wages laws, anti-discrimination laws, and social programs. Liberals tend to see themselves in the context of their fellow man and woman and assume their rights are no greater and their privileges no greater than anyone else's, regardless of wealth or position. Key liberal values are empathy, compassion, trust, and cooperation. Liberalism is a philosophy that attempts to make changes that will improve life even if those changes run contrary to previously accepted positions. So, liberalism is open to change and receptive to empiricism and it is incompatible with racism.
   The following views are associated with American liberalism, though many people who consider themselves liberal would accept some of these views and reject others:

a. Support for government social programs such as welfare, medical care, unemployment benefits, and retirement programs.

b. Support for increased funding for public education.

c. Support for trade unions, teachers' unions, and government protections for organized labor.

d. Regulation of business - OSHA, against child labor, monopolistic practices, etc.

e. Support for civil rights -  1) Support laws against discrimination based on gender, race, age, religion, sexual orientation, or disability; 2) Support laws guaranteeing rights of women and minorities, particularly racial and religious minorities, the disabled, and those with unorthodox sexual orientations;  3) Support for such programs as affirmative action and transitional multi-lingual educational programs for children whose first language is not English; 4) Support broad voting rights; 5) Support for reproductive rights; 6) Support for strong environmental regulations; 7) Support for public transportation; 8) Support for minimum wage requirements; 9)  Support for government funding to alternative energy research; 10) Opposition to the death penalty; 11) Support for animal rights; 12) Support for gun control; and 13) Support for a progressive tax system.

   Because conservatives (known as the ‘right’) have so heavily used "liberal" as a pejorative, many American liberals have moved to progressivism, which is largely the contemporary state of Christian liberal activism in the United States. This should not be confused with the Progressive Era from 1890-1920, in which time U.S. contemporary social activism was born.
   Progressivism refers to two political phenomena: populist political progressivism (populism) and ideological or modern left progressivism. Modern left progressivism is a cluster of political, activist, and media organizations ranging from left-liberal to democratic socialism. In this category are many leaders in the women's movement, labor movement, anti-globalization movement, civil rights movement, environmental movement, immigrant rights movement, and sexual rights movement.
   This activist movement of Modern Left Progressivism has emerged with Christian Progressivism – which has a long history in American politics. Christian Progressivism focuses on the biblical injunctions that God's people live correctly, that they promote social justice and act to fight poverty, racism, and other forms of injustice. Progressive Christians see themselves acting in the public sphere.
   A priority of justice and care for the down-trodden were present before Christianity. These concerns were carried into the early church, the monastic movement, the ministry of healing, the Catholic and Protestant churches, the Progressive Movement of the 1800’s in the United States,  and in the Social Gospel movement.
   Since the 1900’s, Progressive Christianity was influential in determining what constitutes the values by which a good society is run. It stressed fairness, justice, responsibility, and compassion, and condemns the forms of governance that wage unjust war, rely on corruption for continued power, deprive the poor, or exclude particular racial or sexual groups from fair participation in national liberties.
   Contemporary Progressive Christianity organizes itself under CrossLeft. CrossLeft is the first nationwide campaign for Progressive Christianity in the United States. CrossLeft seeks to organize Christians interested in social and political change for social justice. It works to introduce them to each other's events. CrossLeft maintains a shared calendar and an aggregated RSS feed that joins headlines from hundreds of progressive Christian bloggers, news sources, and columnists. CrossLeft joined with Via Media and Reclaim the Blessing in October 2005 to stage a major conference, Path to Action, at the Episcopal National Cathedral in Washington, DC.
   Examples of statements of contemporary Progressive Christian beliefs come from The Center for Progressive Christianity (TCPC, Cambridge, MA) and Crosswalk America (Phoenix, AZ). TCPC has given out the Eight Points - a statement of agreement about Christianity as a basis for tolerance and human rights. CrossWalk's Phoenix Affirmations - include twelve points defining Christian love of God, Christian love of neighbor, and Christian love of self.
   The Center for Progressive Christianity (TCPC) was founded in 1996 by a retired Episcopal priest, James Adams, in Cambridge, MA. It currently represents the most liberal established Christian group within Christianity. It is not a religious denomination. Rather it is a network of affiliated congregations, informal groups, and individuals.
   The mission of The Center for Progressive Christianity is: 1) To reach out to those for whom organized religion has proved ineffectual, irrelevant, or repressive, as well as to those who have given up on or are unacquainted with it; 2) To uphold evangelism as an agent of justice and peace; 3) To give a strong voice both in the churches and the public arena to the advocates of progressive Christianity; and 4) To support those who embrace the search, not certainty.
   The antithesis of Modern Left Progressivism is orthodoxy. The differences between the two represent a cultural war in the United States and this cultural war manifests itself in the politics of American mainline Christian denominations. The result is unrest and division.
   The expression “cultural war” gained wide use with the 1991 publication of Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America by James Davison Hunter. In that book, Hunter described what he saw as a dramatic re-alignment and polarization that had transformed American politics and culture. In short, in the Culture Wars, public morality was to be a defining issue. This found its way into the legislation of mainline Christian denominations.
   He argued that on an increasing number of "hot-button" defining issues—abortion, gun control, separation of church and state, privacy, sexual orientation, censorship—there had come to be two definable cultural polarities. Furthermore, it was not just that there were a number of divisive issues, but that society had divided along essentially the same lines on each of these issues, so as to constitute two opposing groups, primarily defined not by nominal religion, ethnicity, social class or even political affiliation, but rather by ideological world views.
   From the point of view of American academia, the 'culture wars' and their alignments were nothing new — rather they were perceived as an extrapolation of some conflicts that had been simmering in university life since the 1960’s. Positions were taken on a number of issues: feminism, sexuality as a topic in the humanities, and postmodernism – among others. It has become very clear that this movement made its way solidly into Christian seminaries. With seminary ideology gradually changing and seminary graduates taking their places in Christian denominations, the leadership and legislative landscape changed as the 21^st century opened into a “new morning.”
   Current debates and controversy over "hot button" culture wars issues of the 1980’s and 1990’s seem more polarized than ever since 911. Commentators and others were surprised by the outcome of the exit polls on November 2, 2004, in which many voters responded that their primary concern in that election year was "moral values."
   In the years ahead, cultural and Christian moral values will be set by the next generations. They are the Baby Boomers (1946-1964), who will be entering elderhood, fully assuming the role of spiritual elder stewards of society. Generation X (1961-1981) will be in midlife, applying survival skills learned in childhood to new problems. Generation Y (1977- 1994), also known as Generation Why?, Echo Boom, Byte Block, iPod Generation, Internet Generation, the Babies On Board, MySpace Generation, and Millennial Generation, will be in rising adulthood. Generation Z (1997-2025), the Digital Generation, will be reaching adulthood. Values will ebb and flow as these people are shaped by their experiences and world views. How Christian denominations will fit into this evolution is a question of leadership.
Literacy - Greg Toppo reported in USA TODAY on December 15^th, 2005 that that according to a new federal survey, eleven million U.S. adults — about one in 20 — have such poor English skills that they can't read a newspaper, understand the directions on a bottle of pills or, in many cases, carry on a basic conversation.
   Recent immigrants with limited or no English skills account for most of the group, adult education advocates say, but the survey suggests that even the average adult has low skills.
   The first comprehensive look at adult literacy since a similar study in 1992, the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, released in December 2005 in Washington, found that an estimated 30 million adults, or 14%, have "below basic" skills.
   The survey concluded that an estimated 11 million adults are "non-literate" in English, including 4 million who probably can't speak English and 7 million who can't answer basic written questions. "We remain concerned that the numbers are so high," said Leslie Burger, president-elect of the American Library Association. She and others said the high numbers of non-literate adults is a function of increased immigration in the past decade. Many new immigrants, advocates say, could benefit from adult education programs but worry that doing so could expose them to government scrutiny and even deportation. The non-literate population includes adults who may be able to read and write — even at high levels — in their native language.
   Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said in December 2005 that, “the federal government will coordinate adult education efforts through several federal agencies. One adult unable to read is one too many in America." Jose Velazquez, director of the National Center for Family Literacy's Hispanic Family Learning Institute, said education needs to focus more on adults. "This country right now is focused on No Child Left Behind, but we can clearly see from this data that many adults are being left behind."
   Christians have a moral responsibility to help those who are illiterate become literate. This would be a tremendous outreach opportunity for most Christian churches.
Poverty - There is no ethical issue larger or more important than poverty. Poor people describe poverty as the lack of food, medical help, and assets as well as the powerlessness that stems from dependency on others, and the helplessness to protect themselves from exploitation and abuse because of their dependence.
   Poverty facts include, but are not limited to:
. Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
. 20% of the population in developed nations consume 86% of the world’s goods.
. In 1960, the 20% of the world’s people in the wealthiest countries had 30 times the income of the poorest 20% — in 1997, 74 times as much.
. An analysis of long-term trends shows the distance between the richest and poorest countries was about:

• 3 to 1 in 1820
• 11 to 1 in 1913
• 35 to 1 in 1950
• 44 to 1 in 1973
• 72 to 1 in 1992

. The developing world now spends $13 on debt repayment for every $1 it receives in grants.
. Of all human rights failures today, those in economic and social areas affect by far the larger number and are the most widespread across the world’s nations.
. Approximately 790 million people in the developing world are still chronically undernourished, almost two-thirds of whom reside in Asia and the Pacific.
. According to UNICEF, 30,000 children die each day due to poverty. They die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death. That is about 210,000 children each week, or just under 11 million children under five years of age, each year.
. Today, across the world, 1.3 billion people live on less than one dollar a day; 3 billion live on less than two dollars a day; 1.3 billion have no access to clean water; 3 billion have no access to sanitation; 2 billion have no access to electricity.
. The richest 50 million people in Europe and North America have the same income as 2.7 billion poor people.
. A mere 12 percent of the world’s population uses 85 percent of its water, and these 12 percent do not live in the Third World.
. About 0.13% of the world’s population controlled 25% of the world’s assets in 2004.
. 10,000 women in developing countries die each year giving birth.
. 200,000 children in developing countries under age five die of disease each year.
. 2,000,000 people will die of AIDS this year in Africa alone.
. As many as 115,000,000 children in developing countries are not in school.
   Poverty has many faces and it is a global challenge that is growing exponentially. Peace with stable political and economic justice systems have to prevail for systems to develop to support the poor. Peace provides a way to build a climate for investment, jobs, and sustainable growth. There is a vital relationship between long-term economic growth and human development, yet without human development, economic growth cannot be sustained. Making institutions of government more accountable to poor people and strengthening the participation of poor people in political processes and local decision-making discourages poverty. In addition, reducing poor people's vulnerability to ill health, crop failures, natural disasters, economic shocks and violence is an important aid in the relief of the poor.
   As more and more poor move to cities, another kind of poverty is urban poverty. The urban poor live with many deprivations. Their daily challenges include: 

• limited access to employment opportunities and income,
• inadequate and insecure housing and services,
• violent and unhealthy environments,
• little or no social protection mechanisms, and
• limited access to adequate health and education opportunities.

   Urban poverty is not just a collection of characteristics, it is a dynamic condition of vulnerability or susceptibility to risks that includes cities and towns of all sizes.
   Poverty is associated with the poor, but the growth of poverty in a global environment still grappling with unstable governments, military and trade wars, and uncompromising world and religious views makes all people poor. Every person on the face of earth is paying for poverty and the cost increases annually.
Victimization - Christians have an explicit responsibility to minister to the needs of real victims with heartfelt empathy - discerning victim from opportunist. An opportunist is a person willing to take immediate advantage, often unethically, of any circumstance of possible benefit. 
   Today, there is a bewildering assortment of victims, a cacophony of angry opportunists vying with one another for victim status, shouting for redress. Instead of being personally responsible for a solution to their situation, they project their victimhood upon others. A Nation of Victims (Charles J. Sykes, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1992) is an excellent primer to understand this movement.
   A legitimate victim is someone who, through no fault of their own, has suffered significant loss of some essential part of their life. With or without help, a real victim finds a responsible way to manage life. However, many in today's society seem to increasingly believe that when one experiences hardship or pain, blame should be attached somewhere and redress achieved by enshrining irresponsible behavior as a handicap to achieve legal protection and economic gain. By virtue of assuming victim status, the perpetrator is excused and even lionized for taking affirmative action to free himself or herself from his or her ‘oppressors’. In this social movement, personal irresponsibility is evolving into a civil right. 
   It is a Christian duty to promote moral concepts for being personally accountable. Christians also have an explicit responsibility to minister to the needs of true victims, but Christians should minister with their eyes open to the additional responsibility of discerning true victim from victimological opportunist. 
Native American Rights - The civil, human, and religious rights for those indigenous to the Americas prior to European colonization, and their descendants in modern times is an important moral subject. This term encompasses a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of them still enduring as political communities.
   Federally recognized tribes are considered domestic dependent nations, with their rights to tribal sovereignty preserved. Tribal sovereignty refers to tribes' right to govern themselves, define their own membership, manage tribal property, and regulate tribal business and domestic relations; it further recognizes the existence of a government-to-government relationship between such tribes and the federal government. The federal government has special trust obligations to protect tribal lands and resources, protect tribal rights to self-government, and provide services necessary for tribal survival and advancement.
   It is morally correct to preserve the tribal sovereignty and treaty rights of First Americans.
Racial Profiling - One need not consider race to the exclusion of all other factors to be engaged in racial profiling. Rather, a "profile" will often contain a variety of factors: If one or more of them is race, then it is a racial profile. Profiling involves giving prominent consideration in security searches to characteristics that have no direct connection with wrongdoing.
   The costs of racial profiling can be great.

• There is an element of inherent unfairness in singling a person out for suspicion because of a trait that is generally harmless.
• Such treatment can create a stigma for members of particular groups.
• Such a stigma can exacerbate any tendency that a group exhibits to be involved in a particular kind of wrongdoing. It may reinforce a stereotype that a certain type of person is "expected" to be a criminal, a drug user, a terrorist, etc.
• Accepting profiling where its use can be legitimated may open the door to institutionalized discrimination and the erosion of civil liberties.

   It seems unreasonable to visit disproportionate burdens upon one segment of the population, defined by its racial characteristics. In part, this is because race is immutable and therefore cannot be altered to avoid unwanted disparate treatment.
   No state law enforcement agency or official should stop, detain, or search any person when such action is solely motivated by consideration of race, color, or ethnicity, and the action would constitute a violation of the civil rights of the person.
Separation of Church and State - In the United States separation of church and state is governed by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution and by legal precedents interpreting that clause. The term, "separation of church and state", does not appear in the Constitution.
   The view that religious and state institutions should be separate is a wide spectrum, ranging between, but not including, the extremes which secularize or destroy the church, and theocracy which absorbs the state into the function of the church. A government that does not make direct appeal to a specific institution of religion for the justification of its powers is a secular government. Some secularists assert that the state should be kept entirely separate from religion, and that the institutions of religion should be entirely free from state interference. Some secular governments establish quasi-religious justifications for their powers, constructed for ceremonial and rhetorical purposes, but designed for the general welfare and the benefit of the state, without necessarily favoring any specific religious group, or conforming to any doctrine other than its own - an arrangement called civil religion. Other secularists assert that the state ought to encourage religion by providing exemptions from taxation, or providing funds for education and charities, including those that are "faith based", but ought not establish one religion as the state religion, require religious observance, or legislate dogma.
   The legal concept of the union of freedom of belief and freedom of worship, with the absence of any state-sponsored religion, originated in the United States. Consequently the US has become a nation of many religious institutions which flourish under the freedom of legal protection. The US government, however, does not allow total unrestricted freedom of religious practice. Federal, state, and local laws take precedence over the free exercise of religious beliefs, which means that laws against any crime committed by a religious institution can be enforced even if such practices are part of a group's religious beliefs.
Violence Against Women - Violence against women (and children) is highly immoral. The places were violence against women are most noticeable in our culture are in the media, domestic relationships, dating, sexual assault and abuse, elder abuse, stalking, and abuse of mentally ill women. One third of women in the United States are abused each year, a major reason being the commercial exploitation of women by the media which conditions society to treat women as a commodity (an object of personal gratification).
   It is often hard and confusing for a woman to admit that she is in an abusive relationship, or to find a way out. There are clear signs to help you know if you are being abused. If the person you love or live with does any of these things to you, it’s time to get help:

• monitors what you’re doing all the time
• criticizes you for little things
• constantly accuses you of being unfaithful
• prevents or discourages you from seeing friends or family, or going to work or school
• gets angry when drinking alcohol or using drugs
• controls how you spend your money
• controls your use of needed medicines
• humiliates you in front of others
• destroys your property or things that you care about
• threatens to hurt you, the children, or pets, or does cause hurt (by hitting, beating, pushing, shoving, punching, slapping, kicking, or biting)
• uses or threatens to use a weapon against you
• forces you to have sex against your will
• blames you for his or her violent outbursts

   To get immediate help and support call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.

SECULAR & CHRISTIAN ETHICS

Business Ethics - Business ethics is a form of applied ethics that examines ethical rules and principles within a commercial context; the various moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business setting; and any special duties or obligations that apply to persons who are engaged in commerce. Generally speaking, business ethics is a normative discipline, whereby particular ethical standards are assumed in corporate policy and business professionalism - and then applied. In business, ethics is a moving target as individuals and business cultures are very different in their perception of values.
   Business ethics aren't identical to the philosophy of business, the branch of philosophy that deals with the philosophical, political, and ethical underpinnings of business and economics.
   Business ethics makes specific judgments about what is right or wrong, which is to say, it makes claims about what ought to be done or what ought not to be done. While there are some exceptions, business ethicists are usually less concerned with justifying ethical principles, and are more concerned with practical problems and applications, and any specific duties that might apply to business relationships.
   Contemporary ethical issues in business are accounting and financial standards, advertising deception, black market sales, bribery, kickbacks, business intelligence, corporate espionage, political contributions, corporate governance, corporate crime, price discrimination, competitive disinformation, discrimination, affirmative action, sexual harassment, employee issues, professional conduct, environment, labor, marketing, sales, negotiation techniques, patent and copyright infringement, planned obsolescence, product liability and product defects.
   Because of the insatiable demand by the American public for low cost products in the 21st century, two of the fastest growing domestic business ethics concerns are 1) manufacturing outsourcing, which affects a wide range of ethical sub-systems and 2) the building of corporate mega-stores in rural/semi-rural towns and cities. Both are quickly changing the fabric of American society - especially small business.
   The ethical standards the Christian business person uses are those of the Bible.
Christian Humanism - Christian humanism is a philosophical union of Christian and humanist principles. It has been traced back to at least the 12th century, and its proponents claim it to be grounded in the mystery of God present in history as a human being, Jesus, and secondly, on "several" teachings of Jesus, as found in the New Testament. It does not elevate ordinary human beings to the status of deities, nor does it deny the primacy of God, but rather it seeks to celebrate humanity and place the 'serving' of one's fellow human beings as one of the highest Christian duties.
   Christian humanism carries within it a potential for reaching across the metaphysical divide separating two sides of American culture, in which one side places moral authority in something transcending the individual, and the other places moral authority in personal human experience.
   Christian humanism is first of all a movement for widened learning that emerged out of the Renaissance and was brought by devoted Christians to the study of the philological sources of the Greek New Testament. This project was undertaken at the time of the Reformation in the work of Erasmus (Roman Catholic), Martin Luther (Augustinian priest who led the Evangelical Reformation), and John Calvin (of the Reformed tradition who believed in studying the Bible in the original languages).
   The broader tradition extends the usage of the term "Christian humanism” to describe the vocations of Christians active in the discipline of Humane Letters and who serve on Humanities faculties of colleges and universities. Many authors of novels and poems (T.S. Eliot), writing in the Twentieth and Twenty First centuries can be described as "Christian humanists". Many teachers of literary criticism also call themselves "Christian humanists," and understand literary values as including those of gentility, morality, and faith-perspective. Novelists of the preceding generation identified in this manner were Dorothy Sayers (Anglican), Charles Williams (Anglican), C. S. Lewis (Anglican), J. R. R. Tolkien (Roman Catholic), and Flannery O'Connor (Roman Catholic).
   Some Christian humanists value culture but confess that mankind is fully developed only as it comes into a right relationship with Christ.
Pelagianism - Pelagianism is very much a part of the 21st century Christian scene. It is the belief that original sin did not taint human nature, and that mortal will is capable of choosing good or evil without Divine aid. Thus, Adam's sin was "to set a bad example" for his progeny, but his actions did not have the other consequences imputed to original sin.
   Pelagianism views the role of Jesus as "setting a good example" for the rest of us, thus counteracting Adam's bad example. In short, a person has full control of his or her life, and thus full responsibility for his or her own salvation in addition to full responsibility for every sin.
   Pelagianism was condemned by Christianity as a heresy in 431 A.D.
Civil Religion - The term "civil religion" was coined by Jean Jacques Rousseau in his treatise, "On the Social Contract" (1762), which was widely influential among America's founders. Rousseau frowned on the model of monarchies, in which the head of state was the head of the church; and he took a negative view of Christianity itself, because he believed it divided citizens' loyalties between their civic and spiritual obligations. His solution was to create a "purely civil profession of faith" that would be promoted by a nation's leaders.
   After the revolutionary period in America, civil religion went without much examination or commentary until University of California, Berkeley professor Robert Bellah revived the subject in his 1967 essay, "Civil Religion in America."
   "In American political theory, sovereignty rests, of course, with the people; but implicitly, and often explicitly, the ultimate sovereignty has been attributed to God," Bellah wrote. "This is the meaning of the motto, 'In God We Trust,' and the inclusion of the phrase 'under God' in the pledge to the flag."
   John Winthrop is the formal beginning of American civil religion. Winthrop, a devout Puritan and leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, delivered his famous sermon on board the Arabella en route to Massachusetts. In it, he said, "Thus stands the cause between God and us. We are entered into covenant with Him for this work. We have taken out a commission. ... For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us." - John Winthrop, "A Model of Christian Charity," 1630.
   Winthrop's Puritan followers looked upon him as a Moses-like figure, leading them to the promised land. The crossing of the Atlantic became a metaphor for crossing the Red Sea and the Jordan River, and Massachusetts would be the new Israel.
   This idea has carried forward from colonial times, through the Revolution, the Civil War and right up to the present. Civil religion applies the themes spelled out by Winthrop.

Civil religion contains the following elements:

Myths: Sacred stories, parables and legendary acts of heroism, such as George Washington’s feats of heroism in the Revolutionary War and Abraham Lincoln’s sacrifices to preserve the union.
Rituals: Ceremonies and actions that define communities and cross denominational lines, such as the honoring of the dead, memorializing people who died in battle, and saying the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ethics: Codes of moral conduct, what the Puritans called “cutting covenants with the Lord,” and enacting covenants with one another.
Art, Music, and Architecture – Such as public buildings and courthouses built in classical style, and other structures and art forms infused with elements of Americana.
Doctrines: The Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
Social Formations: Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Daughters of the American Revolution, etc.

Themes of civil religion are:

Chosen-ness: The idea that the nation and its citizens have been chosen by God for a higher purpose.
Freedom and Liberty: Universal ideas that no one can oppose.
Individualism: A strong emphasis on individual freedom and responsibility, which also places a heavy obligation on individuals to live up to the covenant.
The American Dream: Going from “rags to riches,” or making one’s fortune and the idea that wealth must be given back to the community in the form of philanthropy or social services.
Fundamentalism - Christian fundamentalism, which has no single founder, is a Christian orientation that originally started in reaction to biblical scholasticism. In particular, fundamentalists reject the documentary hypothesis—the theory held by higher biblical criticism that the first five books of the Bible were composed and shaped by many people over centuries. For instance, the term ‘fundamentalist’ derives from a series of twelve volumes of 94 essays entitled The Fundamentals: A Testimony To The Truth, 27 of them objecting to higher criticism of the Bible. The essays were written by 64 British and American conservative Protestant theologians between 1910 and 1915.
   The original formulation of American fundamentalist beliefs can be traced to the Niagara Bible Conference (1878-1897) and in 1910, to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church which distilled several beliefs into what became known as the "five fundamentals": inerrancy of the Scriptures, the virgin birth and the deity of Jesus, the doctrine of substitutionary atonement through God's grace and human faith, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the authenticity of Christ's miracles (or, alternatively, his premillenial second coming).  
   A number of evangelicals in the 1800’s prepared the way for the movement. American evangelist Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899) and British preacher and father of dispensionalism John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) among others propounded ideas and themes carried into fundamentalist Christianity.
   As the movement developed, premillennialism, dispensationalism, and separatism began to overwhelmingly characterize the leaders, which also had a negative effect on the way that evangelicals as a whole were perceived by outside observers. The non-scholastic (literal) approach to the Scriptures was increasingly seen as a main protection against the gradual degradation to theological modernism. However, the increasing radicalism of Christian fundamentalists caused evangelicals to distance themselves from it. Today, a Christian evangelical and a Christian fundamentalist are two very different Christian orientations, although most people do not know the difference. Fundamentalists criticize evangelicals for a lack of concern for doctrinal purity and for a lack of discernment in ecumenical endeavors in working co-operatively with other Christians of differing doctrinal views. The original 20th century Fundamentalist Movement broke up along very definable lines within conservative Evangelical Protestantism as issues progressed.
   Fundamentalists differ from Pentecostals in their strong insistence upon "correct" doctrine and often advocate separatism (which often also divides fundamentalists from each other) as opposed to the experiential and emotive emphasis of Pentecostals.
   Today's fundamentalists look to the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy for its identity and as its primary historical point of reference. Because its worldview is in the past, it is in decline and becoming more extreme. Fundamentalists in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, despite their doctrinal and practical differences, are united by a common worldview which anchors all of life in the authority of the sacred and a shared ethos that expresses itself through outrage at the pace and extent of modern secularization.
   Extremism, whether religious or not, that harms others is immoral. This would include emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual harm that goes beyond the right of responsible opinion.
Humanism - This entails a commitment to the search for truth and morality through human means in support of human interests. In focusing on our capacity for self-determination, it rejects a dependence on supernatural entities, sacred texts, local traditions or religious creeds. It endorses a recognition of a universal morality based on the commonality of human nature, suggesting that the long-term solutions to our problems cannot be parochial.
   What defines humanism is not a disbelief in the supernatural but a rejection of the importance of the supernatural in human affairs. In this way, humanism does not necessarily rule out some forms of theism or deism. Therefore, there are many humanists who consider themselves quite religious - some of whom are members of (typically, liberal) religious organizations. What humanism clearly rejects is blind deference to supernatural beliefs in resolving human affairs, not necessarily the beliefs themselves.
   According to humanism, it us up to an individual to find the truth, not wait for it to be handed to a person through revelation, mysticism, tradition, or anything else that is incompatible with the application of logic to the evidence. In demanding that we avoid blindly accepting unsupported beliefs, it supports scientific skepticism and the scientific method, rejecting authoritarianism and extreme skepticism, and rendering faith an unacceptable basis for action. Likewise, humanism asserts that knowledge of right and wrong is based on our best understanding of our individual and joint interests, rather than stemming from a transcendental or arbitrarily local source.
   For the Christian who looks to the Bible as the source of God’s revelation and authority, humanism is immoral.
Judicial Activism - In law, judicial activism (judicial social/cultural engineering) refers to judicial decisions which do not follow precedent or which otherwise exceed, or are perceived to exceed, the scope of established law. The term may be used pejoratively to describe rulings or decisions which are perceived to endorse or implement a particular social or political agenda.
   The extent to which a judge should interpret the law is a matter of great debate. Whether a decision is characterized as judicial activism is a matter of degree. In practice, any decision which is beyond expectations may be labeled as an instance of judicial activism, and judges are accused of judicial activism irrespective of their political alignment or judicial philosophy.
   Critics of judicial activism consider that when judges create new law, they are not performing their duty as an interpreter of the law, but may instead be ruling entirely on the basis of personal ethics, or some other inappropriate ground. Others consider that the term itself is loaded, as it contains an unstated premise that the appropriate function of the judiciary is not to extend the law, or does not admit that interpreting the law may to some extent involve the creation of new law.
Just the Facts - According to a 2001 study by the National Survey of Religious Identification (NSRI) by sociology professors at the City University of New York, Christianity was the largest religion (76.5%) in the United States and it had grown by 5% since 1990. What was the next largest group? - the secular/non-religious (13.2%). They had grown 110% in that same time frame.
   What other religions had grown in the United States by at least 100%: Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Native American Religion, Baha'i, New Age, Sikhism, and Deism.
   Which religious category grew the least? Agnosticism shrunk by 16%. Agnosticism is the philosophical view that the truth values of certain claims—particularly theological claims regarding the existence of God, gods, or deities—are unknown, inherently unknowable, or incoherent, and therefore, (some agnostics may go as far to say) irrelevant to life.
   Which religious category grew the most? Deism grew by 717% in just 10 years. Deism is defined by the view that reason, rather than revelation or tradition, should be the basis of belief in God. Deists reject both organized and revealed religion (the church) and maintain that reason (rather than Jesus Christ) is the essential element in all knowledge. For a "rational basis for religion" they refer to natural religion. Natural religion is theology based on reason and ordinary experience. Thus, it is distinguished from revealed theology (or revealed religion) which is based on scripture and religious experiences.
   Deists hold different views on the nature of God, particularly on whether God intervenes in the world. The classical view is that the universe was created by 'a' God who then makes no further intervention in its affairs. In this view, the reason God does not intervene in the world (via miracles) is not that God does not care, but rather that the best of all possible worlds has already been created and any intervention could not improve it. Historically, many deists adhered to this view; others hold a more pantheist or pandeist view that in creating the world, God became the world and does not exist as a separate entity from it; while some hold that God intervenes only as a subtle and persuasive force in the universe.
   The classical view of an impersonal and abstract God has caused many to claim that deism is "cold" and amounts to atheism. Deists maintain that the opposite is true and that their view leads to a feeling of awe and reverence based on the fact that personal growth and a constant search for knowledge is required. This knowledge can be acquired from many sources including historical and modern interpretations found in the many varied fields of science (biology, physics, etc.) and philosophy. Deism, like many religions, seeks to reconcile and unify with science and "modern views." However, both Deism and other religions have differing views with science on evolution.
   What does this tell the Christian community? Mostly, things have not changed for 2000 years. Many still do not believe there is a God and many who do, do not have a place for Jesus Christ, the Bible, and the church. What does this mean? Opportunity!
Moral Relativism - This is the position that moral propositions do not reflect absolute truths but instead are relative to social, cultural, historical or personal references, and that there is no single standard by which to assess an ethical truth.
   Relativistic positions often see moral values as applicable only within certain cultural boundaries or the context of individual preferences.  
   Moral relativism contends that opposing moral positions have no truth value, and that there is no preferred standard of reference by which to judge them.
Pluralism - There is a good side and a bad side to pluralism. The good side is when pluralism is a fact of life. The bad side is when pluralism is an ideology.
   Good pluralism is a key factor of progress in science, society and economic development. In the social sciences, pluralism is a framework of interaction in which groups show sufficient respect and tolerance of each other, that they fruitfully coexist and interact without conflict or assimilation. In an authoritarian society, power is concentrated and decisions are made by few members. By contrast, in a pluralistic society, power and decision-making are more diffused. This results in more widespread participation and a greater feeling of commitment from society members, and therefore better outcomes.
   Religious pluralism implies freedom and the right of individuals and religions to determine universal truths for themselves. Religious pluralism is also the peaceful coexistence of different religions or denominations without one of them having a position of domination over the other religions or denominations.
   The existence of religious pluralism depends on the existence of freedom of (not from) religion. Freedom of religion exists when different religions possess the same rights of worship and public expression. Freedom of religion is restrained or prohibited in some countries where the public practice of certain religions is forbidden.
   Pluralism as an ideology is when there can no longer be a generally approved pattern of belief or conduct within a social or religious institution. This bad pluralism is pluralism as domination and fear. Pluralism as domination and fear in Christianity is seen in forced toleration of a wide range of values that do not represent the Christian religion. Common practices of pluralism as domination and fear affecting Christianity are syncretism (blending values) and forced inclusion of conflicting values. The casualties of pluralism (Peter C. Moore, 2003) in Christianity are: 1) when Biblical truth becomes relative; 2) when cultural values replace Biblical moral codes; 3) when faith and reason become mutually exclusive; 4) when choice becomes the only absolute; 5) when the highest virtue is choice; and 5) when the Great Commission is seen as imperialism.
   Pluralistic ideology has brought conflict into Christianity and misrepresents the good intent of pluralism itself. Pluralistic ideology is, therefore, a historical misrepresentation seen in contemporary moral relativism, narcissistic hedonism, scientific reductionism, and autonomous individualism.
Secular Humanism - Secular humanism is that branch of late philosophy that advocates the use of reason, compassion, scientific inquiry, ethics, justice and equality in addressing issues of a worldview centered upon human beings. The term was originally coined in the 1900’s to make a clear distinction from Christian humanism.
   Secular humanism is distinguished from the broader category of humanism in that the secular humanist prefers free inquiry over dogmatic wisdom—upholding the scientific method for inquiry, while rejecting revealed knowledge and theistic morality, though not necessarily faith. Secular humanism has appeal to atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, and materialists.
   Its basic tenets may be simplified as: 1) humans have value and can solve human problems; 2) science, free speech, rational thought, democracy, and freedom in the arts go together; and 3) there is nothing supernatural. Secularism - The word "secular" is derived from the Latin word saeculum (age), and originally meant "happening once in an age." Secular in its most common meaning, means "outside of religion" and can have the connotation of a dismissive conviction regarding religious matters. In current respectable political and philosophical discourse, it refers to a government obeying civil laws independently from any religion, and not favoring any particular religion. Secularism also includes the priority of the civil laws over any religious legislation. All major religions accept this, except for schools of religious fundamentalists (mostly Christian and Muslim), which promote just the opposite.
   Antagonism between secular and Christian activists is an invention of British citizenry and a creation of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.
   Robert Owen (May 14, 1771 – November 17, 1858) was a Welsh social reformer. He is considered the "Father" of the cooperative movement – the earliest form of the modern secularism. He went out of his way at a large meeting in London to declare his hostility to all the received forms of religion because religion was doing nothing to improve the social ills of society. The chief points in his philosophy were that man's character is made not by him but for him; that it has been formed by circumstances over which he had no control; that he is not a proper subject either of praise or blame - these principles leading up to the practical conclusion that the great secret in the right formation of man's character is to place him under the proper influences - physical, moral and social - from his earliest years.
  George Jacob Holyoake (April 13, 1817 - 1906), born in Birmingham, England, became an Owenite and invented the inoffensive term secularism as descriptive of social reform opinions. Because he was jailed by Christians for his outspokenness, this became the beginning of modern secular and Christian antagonism. Holyoake held that secularism should take no interest at all in religious questions (as they were irrelevant), and was thus to be distinguished from militant free thought and atheism. In this he disagreed with Charles Bradlaugh, and the disagreement split the secularist movement between those who argued that anti-religious propaganda and activism was not necessary or desirable and those who argued that it was.
  It became more intense when Charles Bradlaugh (26 September 1833 - 30 January 1891) of London became a political activist and one of the most famous English atheists of the 19th century. He is the actual father of secular activism as it relates to ‘rights’ rather than social reform. He was a reforming (and infamous) member of the British House of Parliament in the late 1800’s. This is, therefore, the root of present day antagonism and the actual beginning of the ‘rights movement’, so prevalent today.
   It should be remembered that originally there was no antagonism between the philosophy of secularism and the theology of Christians. Present day antagonism between the two is caused, stirred, and allowed to continue – even promoted - by liberal activists and conservative activists. Extreme philosophy and extreme Christianity are both unreasonable and not helpful to the healthy development of any institution.
   Because secularism is the social ideology (worldview) in which religion and supernatural beliefs are not seen as the key to understanding the world and are instead segregated from matters of governance, the ontology (origins) of secularism was a reaction to the deplorable social, political, and religious conditions of earlier centuries and the resulting freedom, called the Enlightenment.
   Since the Enlightenment, in many, but not all, societies are recognized as secular if there is a freedom of (not from) religion, a religion does not dictate political decisions, religious influence is minimized in the public square, and religion becomes increasingly humanist.
   In history, theocracy did not work and still does not work because of excesses in greed and the need for control. From this, one can see the rise of political/religious terrorism and sadly, the lack of civility among Christians and religions in the creative development of post-modern social issues.
Secularism and Contemporary Theology - The late Dr. Langdon Gilkey (2004), former professor of theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School reflected in his writings that in the last half of the 20^th century that the peculiar character of the current theological situation lies in the fact that it is dominated by a massive influence of secularism. Here secularism means an attitude that emphasizes the here and now, the tangible, the manipulatable, the sensible, the relative and the this-worldly - a viewpoint synonymous with the contemporary mind. This ‘mind’ has been expressed with progressive radicality in a wide variety of philosophies evolving since the late 1700’s in empiricism, Kantian criticism, Hegelianism, evolutionism, process thought, pragmatic naturalism, and most recently – existentialism and positivism. The new radical secularity has thus appeared with no sense of ultimate order or meaning.
   This translates into a concentration solely on immediate knowledge or value and asserts either the meaninglessness of ultimate metaphysical or religious questions (positivism), or the complete absence or irrelevance of ultimate answers (existentialism). Man is alone and alien in the flux of reality and quite autonomous with regard to meaning and value. Value becomes any value.
   This mood brought with it an emphasis on religion as of value for this life only and on ethics as having relevance only for one’s concern for his neighbor’s welfare (an inversion of the Great Commandment). In the 1800’s this mentality formed the secularization (or de-sacralizing) of traditional theology (metaphysical ultimacy). The resulting evolution of Christian theology became a Neo-orthodoxy contenting itself with existential analysis of man and a relativized Holy Scripture of experienced “word-events”. The effects of God’s activity could be spoken of (in history, documents, and experience), but not the activity itself.
   At this point, a “religionless Christianity” appeared powerfully as a religion that seeks to understand itself in some terms other than mankind’s dependence upon God, and to realize itself totally in the “secular”, in the service to the neighbor (Christian humanism) in the world.
   The divine became elusive and people began to wonder if what was traditional referred more to hope than experienced reality – a challenge for any pulpit today! Questioning the authority of the Bible as the actual and revealed Word of God (rather than just a historical document) is becoming a philosophical/political pastime in Christian activism.
   Preachers and Christian teachers alike will have to wrestle with the climate of the Word being heard simply as a “word event” or as a life changing experience over against secular consciousness. Practical preaching and teaching must reach into the natural, temporal, and communal mind of contemporary society to be effective. This ‘reach’ will itself change that which is secular into that which is divine and reveal the meaningless of secular language to explain reality. This is not only the 21^st century challenge to the development of Christianity, it has been since Christ gave the Great Commission. It is nothing new, except mankind trying once again to explain ultimate matters with new philosophical languages.  Secularization - Secularization is a contentious term because the concept can be confused with secularism. Most people understand that this is a reference both to the cultural shifts in society following the emergence of rationality and the development of science as a substitute for religion. This has reduced the authority of Christian denominational hierarchy as custodians of revealed knowledge, and, as the responsibility for education has moved from the family and community to the state, two consequences have arisen: 1) the collective (community) conscience has been diminished and the individual conscience has been elevated and; 2) through the fragmentation of communal activities, religion has become more a matter of individual choice rather than observed/participatory social obligation. In the 21^st century, this is seen when a person sees himself or herself as a Christian, but has no particular need or loyalty to a local church (as a church family), pastor, or denomination – except in passing.
   The secularization of the West was a response to intra-Christian tensions (wars) between Catholicism and Protestantism. Some have therefore argued that Western secularization is radically different because it deals with autonomy from religious regulation and control. This is a mistake. Both considerations of tolerance and autonomy are relevant to any secular state, though perhaps not always in the same proportions.
   Liberal theorists consider traditional religious values to be obstacles to modernization. However, the very idea of ‘secularization’ would not exist except for the place Christianity holds in the transformative and evolutionary processes that led to modernity and relativism. In this, Christianity (and other religions) may legitimize modernization by adaptation or polarize by engaging in fundamentalism.
   This will be a challenge to Christianity in the 21^st century. In many ways Christianity must realize what it did in the Middle Ages to help create secularization by subjugating the populace, spending its time building a treasury, burning people at the stake, and making war with those who disagreed. Christianity has the ability to rise to a higher rationality in this new century and, for it to be credible, it has to do so. Otherwise, its future will be to wallow in a morass of defensive apologetics, self-analysis, and self-absorption.
   Here are some ways to understand
secularization (Sommerville, 1989):
a. When discussing macro social structures, secularization refers to differentiation: a process in which the various aspects of society (economics, politics, law, and morality) become increasingly discrete in relation to each other.
b. When discussing individual institutions, secularization refers to the transformation of a religious into a secular institution. An example would be the evolution of Harvard University from a predominantly religious institution into a secular institution (with a divinity school now housing the religious element illustrating differentiation).
c. When discussing activities, secularization refers to the transfer of activities from religious to secular institutions. In most Western countries, government, the not-for-profit sector and the private sector have taken over the provision of social welfare functions. This is a result of the failure of the church in the pre-Enlightenment era as society filled the vacuum.
d. When discussing mentalities, secularization refers to the transition from ultimate (cosmological) concerns to proximate (immediate/practical) concerns.
e. When discussing populations, secularization refers to broad patterns of societal decline in levels of religiosity as opposed to the individual-level (mentalities) secularization. A way to understand is that the religion of the community and become the religion of the individual.
f. When discussing religion, secularization is used unambiguously to refer to religion in a generic sense. For example, a reference to Christianity is not clear unless one specifies exactly which denomination of Christianity is being discussed.
Situation Ethics - This refers to a particular view of ethics from the 1960's (Joseph Fletcher) that states that the morality of an act is a function of the state of the system at the time it is performed. This is frequently confused with moral relativism, which states that there is no universal moral truth, that there are only beliefs and perspectives, none more valid than another. Situational ethics by itself does not say whether there are universal truths or not; it only says that the state of the system at the time of an act must be included in consideration of the act.
   The term 'situational ethics' has been broadened in the late 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century to include numerous situations in which a code of ethics is 'designed' to suit the needs of the situation.
Substituting Evil For Good - This is very old immorality and it goes back to the times of the great prophets of the Old Testament, especially Isaiah. It has become a defensive mechanism by those involved in it when offering their own 'apologetic' for being Christian and, at the same time, participating in calling evil good. This is done by giving attractive names to practices the Bible calls evil. Examples are:

Affair (fornication, adultery, illicit sex)
Alternate lifestyle (immoral sexuality)
Abortion (taking the life of an unborn baby)
Becoming a Man/Woman (giving away one's virginity)
Sexually Active (promiscuous, sexually immoral)
Pro-choice (pro-abortion)
Adult Entertainment (pornography, strip joints)
Adult Videos (pornographic videos)
New Age (Eastern philosophies)
Old Fashioned (adhering to Biblical standards of morality)
Rigid, Inflexible, Intolerant (sticking to one's opinion, especially on Biblical moral issues)

   Justifying sin that God plainly calls abhorrent is immoral. To be a professing and practicing  Christian and justify evil behavior by calling it good, is highly immoral.
The Biblical Model of Ethics - The Bible gives an ethics model consisting of three moral codes. They are the Ten Commandments (given by Moses) in the Old Testament, the Beatitudes (given by Jesus) in the New Testament, and the moral teachings of St. Paul - also given in the New Testament.
   There are three elements to the moral code of St. Paul's theology: 1) freedom in Christ means the freedom to be moral; 2) standards of Christian morality are introduced by the power of the Holy Spirit working in the believer; and 3) Christian life should be lived by trusting Jesus.

PATRIOTISM

War - War is immoral. We have, however, a responsibility to protect this country and its democracy - perhaps selfishly to enjoy freedom of (not from) religion.
   It is plainly repugnant and immoral to 1) make war without a just reason; 2) make war to dominate others; 3) manipulate the public by making an excuse for war to protect or improve business interests in the name of freedom; and 4) maintain a war by borrowing money from others nations to pay for the war.
Just War - Participation in war can be morally 'acceptable' under certain conditions. This is called the 'just war theory'. War is justifiable when it is undertaken in self-defense and when one has been the target of aggression, like terrorism. War is sometimes regrettably necessary to maintain security and justice within one's borders.
   War is justifiable under seven conditions. One, the war must be prompted by a just cause, defined as a defensive war. Unprovoked aggression is immoral. Two, the war must have a just intention, which is to secure a fair peace for all parties involved. Wars of national revenge, economic exploitation, and ethnic cleansing are immoral. Three, the war must be a last resort and diplomatic efforts must be exhausted. Four, the war must be initiated with a formal declaration by the highest authorities in the government. Five, the war must be characterized by limited objectives. The purpose of war is the restoration of peace, not total annihilation, unconditional surrender, or wholesale destruction of a nation's infrastructure and ability to rebuild following war. That is immoral. Six, the amount of force used in the war must be proportionate to the threat. Total destruction is immoral. Seven, the war must respect noncombatant immunity. It is immoral to purposefully target/disrespect non-hostile civilians, wounded soldiers, and prisoners of war.
Nationalism & Patriotism - Nationalism is the sense of loyalty and devotion one has for a nation. It is a devotion to the ideals and principles upon which the nation was founded and it is a devotion to holding one's nation accountable to the standards created by those ideals. Devotion to one's nation should go only so far as that nation embodies those ideals, otherwise the good becomes extremism. For instance, sovereignty should aim at being a just and open society, respecting the rights of minorities, anticipating peace with other nations, and not being identified as the highest good. God is the highest good. A nation should not exist merely to preserve a culture but it should exist also for justice, equality, and human rights. The danger to a healthy nationalism is to treat it as an intermediate and passing phase on the way to cosmopolitan universalism and dispassionate civic responsibility.
   Patriotism denotes positive attitudes by a person to their nation - its culture, its members, and to its interests. There are three forms of patriotism. One is personal patriotism, which is emotional and voluntary. The patriot in this sense adheres to certain patriotic values, such as respect for the flag and those who have given their lives for the country's values. When the entire population of a nation shares adherence to such worthy values, it is called ideological patriotism. The third is official patriotism, which is the promotion of a nation by its leaders, which is highly symbolic and ceremonial in content, and derives its legitimacy from being the expression of the nation - which may or may not be accurate at any given time in the nation's history.
Presidential Ethics - The President of the United States should be a model of high moral behavior.

WORSHIP

Historical Changes in the BCP - There has always been consternation among Episcopalians when one BCP replaces another BCP. That goes on to this day. At present, there is planning to remove some masculine language from the BCP - liturgies, psalms, and lectionary.
   Studies began a few years ago to make available the Revised Common Lectionary readings for Sundays and Holy Days, in addition to the traditional (Book of Common Prayer) lections. The General Convention which authorized the trial use of the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) actually modified the RCL (which is taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible) slightly to conform to Episcopal worship needs. Currently, individual churches, under the guidance of the rector, and with the permission of their bishop, may use the trial Revised Common Lectionary in place of the Book of Common Prayer lections. You may wish to visit the site of the Office of Liturgy and Music of the Episcopal Church to learn more. The asset of the RCL is the greater use of the Old Testament.
   The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music did a major survey of congregational liturgical usage in the year 2000. 1145 congregations responded to the questionnaire, which asked, among other things, what lectionaries are in use on Sunday. 83% reported always using the Prayer Book Lectionary. 17% reported always using the RCL. 22% reported often using the RCL and 30% report occasional use of the RCL.
   Immorality is possible in two ways. One, if the changes in the Psalms do not conform to the original texts, then the changes are not scholarly (accurate). In that case, the changes would be political and immoral because 1) they would be a misrepresentation and 2) Biblical commandments plainly state the Word should not be changed and 3) there is a consequence for those who do change it. Two, the NRSV (1990) is a politicized translation of the Bible that lies somewhere between the RSV and the NIV in accuracy. It is not 'fully' accurate, when held up to scholarly biblical criticism. With the RCL using that translation, Episcopalians are not being offered the most exacting standards in the use of the Bible in public worship.
   In the Episcopal Church an overwhelming majority of the people do not know anything about these changes. Therefore, these changes will eventually become permanent, as cultural language evolutionizes the language of Episcopal worship practices.
Inclusive Language - With the publication of the Revised Standard Version (1952) of the Bible, there is very little need to change anything in the text involving gender issues of language. It clarified most gender issues, although it did not make many traditional biblical students happy.
   The NRSV (1990) is another story. It has taken gender to the extreme. It modernizes and simplifies the language of the RSV even more in the interest of "gender-inclusiveness." In general, the translation is less literal than the RSV, but more literal than the New International Version. The NRSV is a 'politicized' Bible. The inclusive language alterations in the NRSV are very thorough, involving thousands of alterations designed to completely erase the Bible's generic masculine pronouns and other usages offensive to feminists.
   The NRSV was quickly adopted as a replacement of the RSV in the liberal denominations associated with the National Council of Churches. It has also been favored by liberal university professors, for use as a text in "religion" courses. Two study editions have appeared: The New Oxford Annotated Bible (1991), edited by Bruce Metzger and Roland Murphy; and the Harper Collins Study Bible (1993) edited by Wayne Meeks and others. In both of these editions, the introductions and annotations are decidedly liberal.
   Obviously, there is little chance of the NRSV becoming popular outside of the shrinking "mainline" churches for whom it was executed. Indeed, it may be wondered whether any considerable attention will given to it even within these churches, in which the exegetical study of the Bible has practically ceased.
   Christian scholars should continue textual research of the Bible in order to produce an increasingly accurate and helpful text for worship and study needs. Where textual variances are discovered, they should be compared and contrasted for original accuracy.
   It has never been the purpose of God's Word, which has evolved for over thousands of years, to have personal or political self interest (especially by Christian denominations) change it. That is immoral, but that seems to be exactly what is happening as 'cultural' Bibles are produced.
Same Sex Liturgies - There are several Christian denominations ‘debating’ the development of same-sex church liturgies (rituals). Same-sex rituals (in one form or another) have been ‘tolerated’ in societies since the thirteenth century, but they have not been tolerated in Western society.
   Within the last two decades, there are several Christian denominations in Western society which are positioning their constituency to condone and create these rituals. What will ultimately happen will depend