by Emmett Smith

According to Friday's issue of "The Bruin", the UCLA International Institute hosted Peter Singer recently as a guest lecturer. The lecture was derived from his new book, "The President of Good & Evil: The Ethics of George W. Bush". Speaking critically of the President, Singer addressed what he considers, "ethical contradictions", in President Bush's policies.

What business does Singer have discussing Ethics? Well, he's the DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. His "ethics", however, are far from the mainstream, and when one notes that the mainstream these days is far removed from the Biblical worldview, that's saying a lot. During his criticism of the President's opposition to stem cell research funding, Singer said, "I don't deny that embryos are human, and I don't deny that they're living, but I don't think it makes them, (in Bush's words) 'something precious to be protected'".

Singer's comment on Bush's "simplistic" morality was, "I think he has a ... very literalist reading of what (being) an ethicist requires; it requires a lot more nuance, not just the black-and-white terms of 'good' and 'evil'." The very definition of nuance includes the term subtle. Which brings to mind that Genesis 3:1 refers to the serpent as, "more subtle than any beast of the field".

Yes, the evil one loves nuance. It's of inestimable value in the process of rationalization. Pretty soon, one learns to, "call evil good and good evil" and to "put darkness for light and light for darkness" (Isa. 5:20). Ethics is, by definition, the study of morality. It's too bad Mr. Singer hasn't spent more time studying the Master Text.