Contemporary Issues Group Starts this Tuesday!

Tuesday, February 7 at 7:30pm at Pete Scibienski's house

First topic for discussion: Responsibility

News Story: The Italian Cruise Ship, the Costa Concordia

… The ship owners have blamed the skipper for the disaster. He, in turn, has blamed the company for pressuring him to pass close to the shore of the island of Giglio, where the wreck occurred. While the full story will not likely be known until all investigations are complete (if then), the common thread in this news is responsibility, so that will be the topic of our next class.

Here are a couple questions to get you thinking:

1. The captain of the cruise ship was arrested on three charges, one of which was "abandoning ship.” If there are still passengers and/or crew on board a stricken vessel, do we expect a captain to stay until everyone else has left? Why?

2. This disaster shows that one can cause a problem, recognize it and try to fix it, but still suffer some major consequences. How is that like life in general?

3. In the recorded conversation between the captain of the cruise ship and the Italian Coast Guard captain, the latter orders the former to reboard and do his duty. The captain does not refuse the order, but he does not obey it either. In what ways does that mirror some of our responses to God’s call?

Some scripture ideas about responsibility and obedience: Genesis 3:1-13, Genesis 16:1-6, Exodus 32:1-35, John 8:31-36, Matthew 26:69-75, James 3:1-5

If you would like to receive email information about the topics for this group, see Pete Scibienski.