What do we do when our values and our beliefs are in conflict with the decisions our government makes? If we are honest with ourselves and aware of what is going on around us, we will start to notice how often this happens with greater frequency. When we see those situations, we will begin to…
Truth, Justice, and the American Way
The old black and white Superman television program's opening informed us that Superman stood for "Truth, Justice, and the American Way." I'm not quite sure who is to blame, but Superman seems to have dropped the ball because now we have "Alternative Truths, Lack of Justice, and the Autocratic Corporate Way." The above photo is…
That’s What Friends Are For?
There seem to be some pretty distorted notions of what constitutes friendship floating around lately. It seems a lot of people have bought into the notion that a friend just approves of every decision you make, no matter the consequences that are clearly going to arise for you from that decision. If you walk out…
Do Values Still Exist?
Remember values? They were those old fashioned things that gave us a somewhat consistent outline of what we would and wouldn't do. Most people would say, for example, that killing other human beings is wrong. Other values included the idea that it was a good thing to be honest, to avoid cheating, to act with…
Holiday Reflections
My wife Erin and I were in a fairly significant car accident Friday night when a pickup truck ran a red light. While we are banged up pretty well, we are alive - and that's generally not something you think much about less than a week before the holidays. Ironically, the day before that I…
Debating Integrity
When I was a kid, which I must now confess was a few decades ago, We were taught things like debate, argumentation, and persuasive writing. Those things have gradually disappeared from schools in America, and the result is plain to see. Quite simply, we no longer know how to construct an argument and we no…
Honesty is Such a Lonely Word
Billy Joel was right, not only about love but also about spiritual and religious circles - though he may not have had that in mind when he wrote his song. There is a practice that I have seen both in Newage* circles and in Evangelical circles of blatant dishonesty about the ideas and even the…
Craig Bergland 