Moral Issues

What is a moral issue? In his acceptance speech for his Oscar winning documentary, Al Gore claimed global warming as a moral issue. I would be willing to bet many conservative Christians scoffed at such a suggestion; however, Gore is echoing what many evangelicals are beginning to realize - that our definition of moral issues is too small. Recently in American political life, what constitutes a "moral" issue has been questioned. Since the rise of the Religious Right and the political campaign for "Family Values," morality has played a key role in our elections. Unfortunately, the Religious Right has restricted values to include only beliefs about abortion, homosexual marriage, and Hollywood. This narrow focus has rendered the evangelical political voice mute on many other important moral issues facing our nation and world.

How we treat our environment is a moral issue. Whether or not one buys into Global Warming shouldn't preclude one from understanding our moral role as Christians concerning our environment. Pollution, conservation, air quality, water quality, treatment of life in our world, etc, are all examples of environmental concerns that we as Christians must address. Not from a Republican or Democrat opinion, but from a moral and ethical one.

How we treat those in poverty is a moral issue. In a country that was built by rugged individualism, we often assume that those who are wealthy must be good people, while those who are poor must not be. In fact, many religious groups, ie the "health and wealth" gospel, teach this very thing. The Religious Right views poverty as simply an issue for the individual - "pull yourself up by the bootstraps...stop being lazy... get saved." But I believe Christ approaches poverty differently and holistically. As Christians, we must approach the issue of poverty as a community rather than as individuals. What in our society (racism, sexism, education) is causing poverty? In the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world, the fact that 20 percent of children go to bed hungry is a moral issue, and one that we as Christians must address not just privately, but politically.

How we approach materialism is a moral issue. Politicians blab about needing to be for the poor, but then they build 29,000 sq ft houses or have electric bills that are twice the average American. We talk about the need to conserve and pass out awards for documentaries that address these issues and then see the celebrities wearing expensive clothing ride away in their gas guzzling limos to go to lavish parties where food will be wasted. Oil company execs make billions while their employees barely see any increase. The list can go on. Materialism is a moral issue that not even I want to address(because I too am a hypocrite), but it needs to be part of our political discussion.

How we fight the war on terrorism is a moral issue. While I am one of the remaining few who support the Iraq War, although many mistakes have been made, I believe our strategy against terrorism is a moral issue that we must consistently question and answer. How we treat prisoners or suspects is a moral issue. Secret prisons and torture of inmates are troubling moral issues that must be discussed.

These are a few of the moral issues we face. Abortion (and how we treat all life), homosexual marriage (and the divorce rate among heterosexuals), child abuse, poverty, materialism, war, etc, are all important moral issues and Family Values that we as evangelicals must address. This is beyond party politics. Neither party has all the answers. But as Christians, we can influence public policy by not being corrupted by either party. Hopefully, we can continue to find our prophetic voice in American life before it is completely drowned out by politics.

Dungy Did It!

I am a fan of Tony Dungy. We lived in Tampa for a couple of years, rooting for the Bucs. Dungy was the coach our first year in Tampa. He had taken an organization and completely turned it around. Unfortunately, the owners didn't see him as capable of winning the big one. So he was fired, Gruden was hired and the Bucs promptly won the next Super Bowl. So the criticism of Dungy escalated more as one who couldn't win the big one. He was hired by Indy, where again his team failed each year to reach expectations... until this year. Dungy won last night. Nice guys finished first. And he was gracious in the victory.

Much had been made about the race of the two coaches last night. Dungy commented that more important than race was that two Christian coaches were in the Super Bowl: "I think it's great that we're able to show the world not only that African-American coaches can do it, but Christian coaches can do it in a way that we can still win." Dungy doesn't yell, he doesn't cuss, he doesn't put down the press or his players. He coaches, and he cares about his players. And his players love him.

I don't think God takes sides in football games. I don't think God favored the Colts over the Bears. But Dungy did give God the glory last night. Not in a pretentious way like others, but in a very humble and authentic way. Dungy lives out his faith in all he does, whether he wins or loses. Finally, last night, he was able to walk off the field as Champion - but he remained the same authentic and humble follower of Christ that he has always been. In the world of sports, it is good to have two role models like Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy that others can aspire to be like - maintaining the competitive edge in their professions while living the Christian life to its fullest.