Friday, 17 February 2012 14:28 Written by Jim Denison

I write a column each week for The Dallas Morning News as part of their "Texas Faith" panel.  This recent question especially intrigued me.

Our editor states, "President Obama made the case for the common good, as he saw it, in his State of the Union address. Jackie Calmes of the New York Times summarized his theme this way: 'Government and citizens are responsible together for the common good, even as they celebrate individualism and free markets.'  Of course, you might say.  Shared responsibilities and creating room for the individual to flourish are major elements of our national creed.

Wednesday, 23 November 2011 10:51 Written by Jim Denison

Tuesday night on NCIS, Robert Wagner played a man accused of murder.  Today, some are wondering if he was acting.

Natalie Wood was born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko in San Francisco.  Her parents were Russian immigrants; she spoke both Russian and English.  Her family soon moved to Santa Rosa, where Wood was noticed during a film shoot.  She made her film debut in 1943, a few weeks before turning five.  Studio executives changed her name to "Natalie Wood," a name she never liked.  At the age of nine she starred in Miracle on 34^th Street, launching her career.  She would appear in 56 films.

Thursday, 06 October 2011 00:15 Written by Jim Denison

When Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson told a caller on his TV show that a married man dating another woman because his wife was suffering from Alzheimer's "should divorce and start all over," it caused a predictable reaction. Even his co-host reminded Robertson that couples vow to remain together "for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer." But Robertson did not back off: "I hate Alzheimer's. It is one of the most awful things because, here is a loved one, this is the woman or man that you have loved for 20, 30, 40 years, and suddenly, that person is gone. They're gone. They are gone." Alzheimer's, he said, "is a kind of death." And he said he would not put a "guilt trip on someone who divorced for such a reason."

What to make of this? Conservative Christian leaders were swift to condemn Robertson’s remarks. But as the New York Times reported, many doctors and patient advocates had a more complex response – some suggesting that he had broached an important subject, how spouses and other family members of dying patients can prevent their lives from being engulfed and start to move on.

How do we reconcile the practical and moral conflicts in Robertson’s advice?