If you’re talking about the prisoner abuse scandal we all know about, I think we were outraged. It got the cover of nearly all the major national magazines. Those involved are in trial and will receive jail time.

If you’re talking about something else, what? All the google searches I do on the subject lead me to that one particular incident. Can you provide us with any sources we can go to to learn more about what exactly is going on?

Personally, I’m more concerned with the US government disappearing people to be held secretly in other countries.

I think Thomas Jefferson was speaking not of how a few errant individuals might treat prisoners, but how the whole society does so. I think the fact that almost all Americans were outraged at what occurred reflects well on our level of civilization, especially when compared to how prisoners (or captured civilians) are treated in the Middle East. Yet we also have a short attention span; the controversy is months in the past, the perpetrators are being tried and convicted, and the 24-hour news networks have moved on.

I’ve found that anyone who needs to tell someone else to grow up generally is the one that needs to do it themselves. But hey, what else should we expect from AT and his proud, “I can do no wrong; courtesy on blogs be damned since everyone should be uber thick-skinned like me; I get banned from other sites and wear it as a badge of honor,” attitude. I’m sure you’ll be ready with your usual witty retort, AT, and I know I await it anxiously. But in the meantime, if you can’t treat posters with respect, feel free to post elsewhere where your kind are welcome, and even encouraged.

I’m concerned that many (but certainly not all) people of faith have a narrow definition of morality. In other words, deaths in Iraq aren’t a moral issue but the death of a single woman in Florida is. Torture, or outsourcing it to Uzbekistan, doesn’t create outrage, but stem cells do. Gay marriage, we’re told, will lead to the destruction of society, but we turn a blind eye to AIDS in Africa.

Even though I don’t agree with the Pope on a lot of issues, I admire the consistency that is admittedly lacking in my own beliefs. He preaches a true culture of life, unlike a lot of religious people in our own society: No abortion, no death penalty, no war, etc.

I don’t mind that people value some moral issues over others – that’s only natural and I’m as guilty as the next guy. What troubles me is the ability of some to portray their issues as the only moral issues. If you pitch a fit about gay marriage, at least acknowledge that you’re picking and choosing your moral outrages and that there are others worthy of attention.

I’m not trying to fan the flames of an already heated debate. I can see Steve in the corner twitching nervously :) I promise to do my best to play nice.

I’m confused. What’s the point in making fun of me if you already know it won’t hurt my feelings?

John H: I’m sure you’ll be ready with your usual witty retort, AT

What? And steel the spotlight from you? You’re on a roll, John! Who am I to stand in your way?

Multiple issues are being raised in tonight’s responses, and these merit thoughtful consideration–especially by Mormons, it seems to me. What I mean by this is that we have a responsibility not to avoid debating (even if heated) the critical issues of our times, and how to embrace the task of framing a Christian response.

Of course, on this (as with other issues), reasonable people can differ.