Contemporary Ethics

After watching Boston Legal this week; a quirky law comedy, I couldn't stop thinking about how engaging the issues were: age discrimination, drug use, loss of health and loved ones. Like many of the legal and medical tv shows, both sides of an issue are convincingly presented, leaving it to the view to consider what is right.

There is an intrinsic part of the human mind that searches for answers to life's deepest questions.

Post Enlightenment, religion and theology were the mainstream forums for discussing morality and ethics. Post Modernity, I cannot help but wonder whether contemporary legal and medical tv shows are now meeting this need for most of our western culture.

There are no simple 'biblical' answer to many of today's issues, as in generations past. Guiding principles such as "do to others as you would have them do to you" can even be employed to support opposing views, and seldom lead to a helpful or definitive consensus.

Where religion has abused it's power, dictating to people what they are to believe, these tv shows are inviting people to think for themselves. Typical of post-modernity, a solid point of reference is missing, which only seems to make these tv shows all the more appealing.

So, do such tv shows really challenge us to think in more ethical terms? Do they contribute towards a positive transforming of culture? A more just and equitable society? I don't know. I suspect that for some, like all good theology and philosophy, such viewing will challenge and inspire them to action.

And while our points of reference may differ from one another, I am encouraged to think that those with a worldview different to mine are also considering, if not currently engaged in, securing a better future.

I Believe in You

From time to time someone will say something radical or visionary, enabling you to understand something dear to you in a completely different way. One line in a song on the latest U2 album had such an impact upon me recently:

"It's not 'if I believe in love',

but 'if love believes in me.'"

I have often wondered if the word love is a cypher for God in some U2 songs.

Either way, I think there is far too much said about people's need to 'believe in God' without enough mention of God's belief in them. Too often, we have put the cart before the horse in this regard, wondering why our journey is so awkward.

This lyric fit so well with my understanding of God and something deep, previously adrift, just seemed to slot into place. I can believe in a love (or a God) who believes in me. Love that believes in me, believes in us, opens up the future to freedom.

It's not 'if you believe in love'... Love believes in you!

And out of that love, in that love, we can breathe and live.