John Danforth, former U.S. Senator for Missouri as well as a former Ambassador to the United Nations, has written an editorial in Friday's (6/17) New York Times about Christians on the "Right" and "In The Middle." Danforth shows that there is disagreement among Christians about what is happening in our society and how it should be responded to. Danforth makes some interesting points, but he seems to oversimplify some issues.

Danforth writes, "But for us, the only absolute standard of behavior is the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. Repeatedly in the Gospels, we find that the Love Commandment takes precedence when it conflicts with laws." Yes, Jesus said that loving our neighbor is of utmost importance, but before saying that he talked of loving God with our hearts, souls, and minds. If you were to truly love God, wouldn't you then love the same things that God does, like righteousness, holiness, and justice? What does it mean it to love your neighbor? Does loving your neighbor mean that you just accept whatever he/she says and/or does? If you were to truly love your neighbor, would you point out sin in his/her life, or would you say nothing for fear of being called judgmental?

Danforth writes, "When we see an opportunity to save our neighbors' lives through stem cell research, we believe that it is our duty to pursue that research, and to oppose legislation that would impede us from doing so." What if we believe that a person's life begins at conception, or when a sperm and an egg become one? Is it right to destroy one person's life in order to (possibly) save another's life?

Danforth writes, "For us, living the Love Commandment may be at odds with efforts to encapsulate Christianity in a political agenda. We strongly support the separation of church and state, both because that principle is essential to holding together a diverse country, and because the policies of the state always fall short of the demands of faith." Does this mean that a Christian's politics should be wholly secular? Dr. Martin L. King frequently cited the Bible in his discussions on civil rights; should he have kept the Bible out of it?