Think Biblically: Conversations on Faith & Culture Cultural Update: Is Iran War Ethical?; Rigging March Madness; Sexual Recession
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Mar 20, 2026 A discussion about whether targeted killings of Iranian leaders can be defended under just war principles. A college basketball rigging scandal sparks worries that betting is corroding trust in sports. A look at the so-called sexual recession, linking falling intimacy to loneliness, screens, and collapsing relational confidence. A blunt moral critique of a UK proposal to decriminalize self-induced abortion.
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Just War Must Account For Modern Warfare
- The traditional just war framework separates justice of going to war (jus ad bellum) from justice in conduct (jus in bello), raising different questions for modern drone strikes.
- Sean McDowell and Scott Rae note technology like drones and terrorism complicate applying 600-year-old criteria such as proportionality and noncombatant immunity.
Old Testament Assassinations Aren't Modern Blueprints
- Biblical narratives like Ehud's assassination show tyrannicide within an Old Testament theocracy but offer limited prescriptive guidance for modern states.
- Sean McDowell warns against importing Judges-era examples into contemporary policy without context.
Prop Bets Make Game-Fixing Tempting And Invisible
- Sports betting's ubiquity plus prop bets erode fan trust because narrow wagers incentivize small manipulations rather than full-game fixes.
- Scott Rae highlights prop bets on player stats as rationalizations that make throwing parts of games tempting.
