This I believe.

I heard this story on NPR recently and found it quite moving.

"When I was 12 years old, I was responsible for the death of my younger brother in a hunting accident. I held the rifle that killed him. In a single moment, my world changed forever. I felt grief, terror, shame and despair more deeply than I could ever have imagined."

This led me to wonder ... what, exactly, do I believe? Here are some things.

1. The political philosopher John Rawls was right. It would trivialize his arguments to reduce them to a blog post so I won't try. I'll say this: Rawls gave a compelling story as to how society can have a generally-accepted concept of what is right, while allowing its citizens wide variety in their concepts of "the good." The bumper sticker version of his philosophy is: Justice as Fairness.

2. Except for conversations grounded in sociology or psychology, there are no useful discussions about a spiritual realm or entities, since no statements can possibly be proven or disproven.

3. Movies, as wonderful as they can be, are not really an art form. Exhibit A: XXX starring Vin Diesel; Exhibit B: Truth or Dare, starring Madonna ... and those are good ones ...

4. It is easy to go to Las Vegas and not gamble.

5. Romans 14:13, and even more to the point Matthew 15:7-9

... good enough for now.