VIDEO: Francis X. Maier in Conversation with Carl Trueman

Yet in declaring that it is inappropriate for a straight actor to play a gay man on screen, Hanks negates the importance of the shared humanity that makes him empathetic in the first place.

Sentiment, rather than clear thinking, tends to guide so much of our ethical debate today.

For a flag to be a powerful, sacred symbol of unity and purpose, it has to symbolize a real common sense of unity.

My favorite – I use that word very loosely – portrait of damnation comes from Ernest Hemingway, a man not known for his religious sensibilities.