Here's how I see it. 

 

1.  First, these ethical dilemmas are not the norm.  If you were to think of a circle, most ethical deliberation takes place within the circle and closer to the middle.  It doesn't have much of a dilemma to it.  We go through our daily lives not having to deal with these things that Olson talks about.  The kind of dilemmas are few and far in between and take place on the fringes or on the edges of or the circumference of the circle.  This is where real deliberation takes place.

2.  NO ONE should take ethical deliberation lightly.  If anything that Olson, Hauerwas and Yoder are saying is that when faced with an ethical dilemma, this should be taken with all seriousness.

3.  Christians are going to start with different assumptions about these things.  As this is the case:

A.  No one should say their position is **THE** Christian position.  No one should presume to speak for God but all should humbly acknowledge that they are trying their best to follow God's leading. 

B.  Everyone should acknowledge that they ARE RESPONSIBLE for the direction or the path or decision they take or make.

 

Now, "2" and "3B" go hand in hand.  It is THIS I have no use for when it comes to Christians and ethical dilemmas and it seems to be the central point of contention between Christians and what Olson is point out.  I mean imagine if you took with all seriousness that you are going to be held to account for the decision(s) that you make.  To me this is just as important as taking seriously a one storey view of reality or yielding to God and relying on God's and his power every moment of our lives.  

 

Personally, though, I do think there are times when Christians can be cupable in evil for a greater purpose.  Lewis Smedes brought this up years ago and which I pointed to on these boards years ago.  He tells the story of a lady in Nazi Germany who was threaten by the Nazis that they would kill her family if she did not have sex with SS officers.  Some people will say they would allow the family to die, (I know people who think like this, they will never go against God's commands for themselves) but that is where you start going strictly by the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law (though I may sound like I'm contradicting myself when it comes to this and the abortion question we had on another thread, but I don't think I am).

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