I want to hear your ethics problems.
This morning we’re launching a brand new, fun project here called “Q&E: Questions and Ethics.” I’m raring to go.
Here’s the way it works. If you’re thinking about an ethical dilemma (big or small) that’s got you thinking, send it to me. Maybe it’s something you heard a co-worker talking about, and you wonder: “If that were me, what would I do, as a Christian?”
At Q&E, I’ll try to answer the question (or question the answers) here from a kingdom-oriented, Christ-centered vantage point.
The question could be about anything from whether you ought to let your teenage son get a tattoo to whether you ought to use IVF to get pregnant to whether it’s a lie to tell your Mom she’s gaining weight when she asks you dead out.
It’ll work kind of like “The Ethicist” column by Randy Cohen does over at the New York Times magazine, except, well, completely different.
Here’s why.
I get a lot of “Hey, what should I do if…” questions, and a lot of them are really thoughtful questions. They force me to think about things in my own walk with Christ, and they prod me on to being a better man, husband, father, preacher, writer, bureaucrat, etc. I think our discussion of some of these questions could prompt us to think.
Here’s how.
Send me an email to [email protected] with your question. Or, if you prefer send a video link (YouTube, Vimeo, or just off the camera on your computer) of you asking the question. Or, if you use Twitter, you can tweet the question to me @drmoore.
Some ground rules.
I’m not going to use your name, unless you explicitly ask me to. Otherwise, you’ll be “Confused in Corinth” or “Tempted in Topeka” or whatever (just like old Ann Landers used to do it, if you remember back that far).
I reserve the right to change some minor details to protect your identity and I reserve the right to combine several, similar questions into one synthesis test case.
I won’t respond to you personally by email on these. I’d love to, but can’t.
I won’t answer all of them right away. There’s no timeline. I may save some up while I think about the answer, and it might take me a while. So please don’t send me the “Why won’t you answer my questions” email.
Also, there are lots of people with similar problems to yours. Don’t assume if you read something on here that I’m talking about you. Sometimes I’ll address an issue in some venue, and someone will huff and protest, “How did you know about me.” There are all kinds of Bible verses I could refer you to on that one, folks, but Carly Simon lyrics will do for now.
I’m all for a frenzy of discussion on the comments section. Some of these will be “Thus saith the Lord” type answers: “Should I throw kittens in a wood chipper, for the fun and amusement of my friends” (and stay tuned for how I’ll answer that one). Some will be more “Thus leaneth Moore” type answers: “Should I tell my fiance that I always prayed that I’d wind up married to his brother?”
I’ll answer some of them with text, here on the site. I’ll answer some of them audibly on the podcast (see the link over on the edge of this site for how to sign up for the “Moore to the Point” podcast). The decision as to which is which will be completely arbitrary, dependent more on my thyroid levels that day than on any strategic plan.
So, email me your ethical questions and dilemmas, and let’s get “Q&E” rolling out the gates.
And, by the way, my mother is not gaining weight, in case you thought that my example above was from real life.
