I am at issue with the media in general for reporting on "morality issues".
So-and-so politician is apparently hypocritical in their moral position...namely Elliot Spitzer for his involvement as a john in a prostitution ring.
Why not spell it out!? Rather than obfuscating what is really meant by a "lapse in morality"? Say plain as day that they SINNED. Meaning, that these god-fearing shysters have fallen from the grace of a god. Does this mean they have forfeited their moral high-ground? Maybe. Have they sinned against God? Most likely, (in the eyes of their religious constituents).
This causes me to reflect on the whole morality/sin rhetoric/issue. For one; I don't believe in any god that prescribes punishment for sin (as I don't even believe in the prescribed punishment...aka HELL). Immorality though? This I look at as more of a societal bane. Yet, what we as a society base our opinion on as to what is right and wrong relying almost exclusively on whatever "Christian" values/mores have been "instituted" as the just cause for judgment in mainstream circles of society has limited our outlook as to what IS right and wrong. If we base our concept of morality in a two-thousand-year-old book than I think we have serious issues to contend with. Time and change moves on...progress...the otherwise catch-phrase for liberalism. If you want to believe in the bible then I suppose you had better be a conservative because in essence you are believing in something that tells you that [morality] is set in stone so to speak. You would have to want things to remain the same or otherwise revert change in society back to whatever era you deem was the "good" era.
To this I say: "Gimme a break!" Essentially I think the religious debate is not about God, but about the norms of society and whether or not these norms comport with whatever religion has the clamp down on "morality". This in quotes because it should really be replaced by "sin".
When you look at it that way [morality vs. sin] then you have a very different picture about the state of human society. The notion of morality should lie solely in the hands of the secularist, while the notion of sin should lie solely in the hands of the religionist. You can have morality without sin, but you can't have sin without morality. Get it? Essentially what I am saying is that sin involves punishment from a god and morality involves punishment from society. What matters most to you? It's a no-brainer for me.
