ISSUE: This week in Grey Matters, we look at a trend in the healthcare industry where religious-affiliated groups are taking over public hospitals and applying their ethics and values. Specifically, is it ok for religious-affiliated hospitals to limit treatment options for patients ? Let’s examine this topic with a fictional story about Carol and Dr. […]
Grey Matters: In the new “sharing economy,” is it ok for people to pick with whom they choose to share?
ISSUE: This week in Grey Matters, we look at discrimination and the sharing economy. Specifically, should a person have the right to refuse to rent a room in her home to a gay couple? Let’s examine this topic with a fictional story about Dot and Austin, lifelong residents of Nashville, TN. BACKGROUND: For more than […]
Peanut Butter Crackers and Childhood Memories of Myrtle Beach
Every summer when I was a kid, we’d go to Myrtle Beach for a week. It was a four hour drive from where I grew up in Upstate South Carolina so there would be a couple stops along the way. Dad would give us a couple bucks, and my brother and I would go into […]
5 Favorite Southern Expressions
I’m in South Carolina this week visiting my family, and I’m reminded how much I miss the Southern language. Beyond the accent, us Southerners have our own language. Some of my favorites. He’s as country as a turnip. Said by the sales rep for the local gas company about one of the workers. It means […]
It’s Time to Take Back Christianity
Since the 1980s, self-described “Christians” decided that they needed to impose a socially conservative agenda on the rest of society in complete rejection of the First Amendment’s insistence on separate of church and state. These “Christians” have also substituted the teachings of Jesus for the writings of Adam Smith. But it doesn’t need to be like […]
On Prayer, Abomination and a Mattress
My husband and I bought our retirement home in July. I know what you’re thinking. Brian you’re only 35. Why are you thinking about retirement already? First, thank you for believing me when I lie about my age, and second, it’s never too early to think about retiring. This week I also read a book […]
Joan Rivers is dead, and I miss her.
Labor Day was last weekend, and all day yesterday, I wore white shoes. And then last night I wore white pants to dinner. Not winter white or any other of the thousands of “colors” of white that would have been acceptable, but middle of the summer white pants. I went all over Los Angeles breaking […]