Liberty, libertinism, libertarians

Early last week, headlines briefly declared that the Vatican had announced new sins for the 21st century. I was pleased to note that, despite the headlines, the Catholic church was not attempting to add to God’s Word with new traditions, but was attempting to analyze and make application of Scriptural, moral principals to today’s ethical issues. Besides warning against “pollution,” which is perfectly valid in the light of the Christian principle of stewardship, the Pope also cautioned careful treading in the area of bioethics. Issues such as genetic engineering, cloning, and embryonic stem cell research that may involve experimentation and disposal of human life, however small (even “Who-sized?"), are to be shunned and condemned.

Not to be outdone, the Southern Baptist convention also made headlines by taking a position against Global Warming. It was ironic that this announcement came during the same week that Global Warming skeptics had a big conference in New York, disproving the notion that a consensus of “all” scientists agree with the Al Gore position that catastrophic global warming is caused by humans and that if we do not impose rigid environmental controls on big economies like that of the United States, the earth itself will be doomed. It was also ironic to note that this has been the severest winter on record in China and Russia, and that the Arctic ice cap is not only fully frozen but is increasing its depth and level. Of course, Mr. Gore will remind us simpletons that it is “climate change” that is the threat to humanity, not “global warming” (that is so last year).

Barack Obama’s minister was in the news as well. A few weeks ago we discussed the guilt by association suggested by the appearance of a Che Guevara flag/poster in an Obama campaign office. Obama surely cannot be held responsible for everything any of his supporters say; it was simply worthy noting that those for whom Che Guevara, communist murderer nonpareil, is a hero, are Obamaniacs. But the issue of Obama’s association with the Trenton United Church of Christ and Dr. Jeremiah Wright was another issue. Obama chose to follow Wright’s pastoral leadership for 20 years, nearly his entire adult life. Wright performed the Obama’s marriage, and baptized their children. It was one of his sermons that gave Obama the inspiration for his book “The Audacity of Hope.” One can surely hold the candidate responsible for his association with Rev. Wright, because it was voluntary, prolonged and sustained over time, and knowledgeable.

Obama’s spiritual mentor has preached such controversial sermons as the one in which he said “Not God bless America, but God damn America” for its racism and racist policies, and that America deserved the 9-11 attacks. Here’s a link to the church’s website where you can examine its mission statement and beliefs. From it, you can conclude that here is a church with a much different view of what constitutes “sin,” and most of it is racism perpetrated on African-American victims.

Finally, the governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, has submitted his resignation, effective on Monday morning. A former state attorney general, Spitzer made a career of self-righteously attacking corruption on Wall Street. For him, corporate America represented a kind of evil in which business and capital sought to stick it to the little guy. Spitzer was also known for his penchant for busting prostitution rings. Of course, everyone by now knows that this crusader of justice himself was caught with 22-year old “Kristin,” AKA Ashley Dupre, who was charging him, well, let’s call it over $1000/hour for her company.

Surprisingly, there are many Americans who believe that Spitzer did nothing wrong, but Bush and Cheney are the real criminals for deceiving this country into going to war under false pretenses. Many of them consider themselves “libertarians.” This political philosophy believes that the government should not regulate or ban anything considered to be a “victimless crime.” In this regard, the US is rather unique among western nations, because we actually consider prostitution to be illegal. The premise of libertarian philosophy is that the government wastes too much time and law enforcement money going after people who engage in consensual behavior where there is no victim.

How is it possible to sort through all of the moral and ethical decisions presented in the modern world? Is it even possible to agree on a definition for the word “sin?” Even among us conservative evangelical or Reformed Christians, there exists difference of opinion on whether something may be an issue of Christian freedom or one that is sinful. People have different convictions regarding liberty, its exercise and its restrictions.

I’m going to conduct a secret test regarding your answers to this blog. At the end of the week, I will reveal what the test was and what the percentage of responses that failed the test had been.