Many fundamentalist Christian groups would have us believe that the Bible has all the answers to the questions of life. For them, difficult situations are black and white when one consults scripture for the right choice to make or the wrong decision to avoid. In struggling with how to respond to a particular dilemma, the Bible tells us precisely what to do. What's more, such an approach to daily life also evaluates how acceptable we are to God in terms of how obedient we are to these biblical injunctions. 

Given the complexity of life, that is a mighty appealing promise, as evidenced by the popularity of conservative fundamentalism in our country at this time in history. However, I have found such simplicity to be an illusion. Life is not all black and white. People are not either good o…