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Earlier this year, I decided to go back to school to complete a Master’s in Bioethics (I know, as if raising two young kids, working full-time while trying to get another book out and juggling 2 blogs wasn’t enough. What can I say? I am mildly insane!) I am taking a class right now in Bioethics and the law, which is really interesting. We are reading a book by Guy Durand (Six études d’éthique et de philosophie du droit) and the last chapter was on Dissidence and social disobedience. His commentary was that there is a place for disobedience to authority within certain boundaries and that we have a right to refuse to do something that is contrary to our conscience, even if it is mandated by the law. An example of this is the refusal to military service if it is against your personal convictions. In certain countries, this objection of conscience is a recognized right and accommodations can be made (such as civil service instead of military service, for instance)

There is a conversation topic getting a much-needed dust-off in recent days thanks to both the inaugural speech by US President Obama and a recent blog post by Sierra Club Executive Director, Michael Brune; environmental activism. I've written about how I feel an undeniable stewardship of the planet because of my religious views, which include not only the environment as being sacred, but that as a matter of practicality and selfishness, this is the only environment we have and we need to do everything we can to keep it healthy enough to sustain us, which invariably means approaching our life choices as part of the system and not separate and superior to it.

I’m not usually a big fan of “rotating power.”