As I had to rush off to a conference at the Gold Coast this entry is a little late and it was written when I was between conference sessions, which means that I was more than a little tired.

We began by exploring Hitler’s values and beliefs.

To kill Jews was the first comment made in the discussion. But with further discussion we discovered that Jews were not the only people group that Hitler killed. He killed blacks and the disabled. This helped us unearth his values and beliefs. He believed that these people groups were in some way not human or not human enough and were holding back the development or could I say the evolution of a super race. So Hitler’s values of having a super race were behind his terrible actions.

So what were some of the beliefs and values of Jesus Christ? Equality was something that came up early in our discussion, also Christ's desire to help people. At this point I was asked what God says about homosexuality. Sometimes it's hard to know whether questions are genuine or whether they are asked to hijack the discussion. I tried to avoid answering but became convinced that an honest answer was in order. God has made it clear that homosexuality is wrong. Having said this I also said that I don't hate homosexuals nor does what they do make them less equal to anyone else. The student was satisfied that I had done my best to answer his question even though he disagreed.

I then encouraged us to consider what five values would be good values to apply to the world. Here are some of their replies:

Peace: World peace was where we started. So how then do we deal with those who choose to be violent? One suggestion was to kill them but most of us thought that would be contrary to our value of peace. So it was suggested that we put all the violent people on Tasmania (would it be big enough?).

Removal of weapons: not just weapons of mass destruction but all guns. The difficulty with this is that people are weapons.

Help others in need: 1st world to help 3rd world to make poverty history.

Equality: was very important, that everyone be treated the same.

No drugs: unless for medication

No communism:

No cruelty to animal: because it is wrong

God's Values:

It is interesting that many people share God’s values. For example God says that we should honour those who raise us. Family has been a value of these young people. Honesty is a reflection of being truthful. Respecting relationships with one another - don't cheat in relationships or hurt others were agreed with. In other words if you are in a relationship you should be faithful, and not cheat (God says you shall not commit adultery). We shouldn't steal; we shouldn't lie to hurt people. No one had any problem with these values.

The question is why don't we keep our values?

If we agree then that lying and stealing is no good why then do we lie and steal. The answer I think is that everyone has a tendency to be selfish. No one disagreed with this observation. So when I asked what was wrong with this world the answers were: Capitalism, communism… but in reality it's me. When I don't keep God's values or even my own I hurt people and the world. So who should we blame for the problems of the world? It has to be us. Why? Because we are selfish, we lie and steal to get the advantage over others. I warned them that as they grow older they will become more capable of hurting other people and this world. The main challenge that they will face is their selfishness.

Divorce

One student in the course of our discussion asked: Why is divorce wrong in the bible? Particularly since many relationships become very painful. People change. Here I encouraged them to think of love as much more than a feeling that can be lost. Love is a commitment, a decision to look after the interest of our spouse. If we are seeking our own interests first then we are being selfish and this can lead us to wanting to end our marriage to start another relationship because we think our interests will be better served. Marriage is special because of the commitment made to hang in there despite how we change and the challenges that we have to face and times when we don't feel the love we hoped for. Divorce takes away the specialness of what marriage is meant to be. I pointed out to the students that people are always changing, they are not the same as they were one year ago and they won't be the same in five years time. The commitment in marriage is meant to protect the relationship from these changes. So that rather than growing apart, the couple are always striving to stay together, sometimes despite the changes they are experiencing. I gave the students some examples or key periods in marriages that evoke enormous change. One of the biggest is when a couple has children, when they move home, when they change jobs. What should not change in a marriage is their commitment to be committed no matter what.

If you were God...?

Would it be unreasonable if you were God to place on the world the values as stipulated in the first four commandments?

1) One God, no other gods only one

2) Don't make up gods or ideas of god

3) Don't disrespect other with cursing

4) Have a rest day once a week - chill out - focus on your spiritual journey.

We all agreed that it's ok that God would do put in place these values.

In summary

It is really important to be clear about what values and beliefs you hold to because they will affect who you are and what you do.