Over the past year, I have had several family members and friends pass away. Loss is a powerful and transformational experience for all concerned. These challenging situations have put me in contact with several hospice workers. There may be no higher calling than caring for patients and loved ones at this difficult time. When a veteran hospice nurse was asked what she had learned from her numerous encounters with people facing the end of life, she replied, “Don’t believe everything you think.”

At first glance, this response may seem illogical because too often in our modern society we use the terms think and believe interchangeably. What we think is nothing more or less than our observations or the observations of others combined with our logic to produce what we think about something. Our beliefs are core-level fundamental values. What we think can be changed instantly by simply altering one fact or updating a piece of data. Our beliefs should be more enduring and should only be altered after transformational experiences or overwhelming wisdom.

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Editor’s Note: Tulsa Today welcomes submissions and provides this perspective by Rev. Jim Harden, M.Div. a medical ethicist, author of the newly published Ethical Theory and Pertinent Standards in Women’s Reproductive Health, and CEO of CompassCare Pregnancy Services. He pioneered the first measurable and repeatable medical model in the pregnancy center movement and has written extensively on medical ethics, pro-life policy, and executive leadership. Rev. Harden has developed materials and strategies used by hundreds of pregnancy centers nationwide, helping them become more effective at serving women and saving babies from abortion.

Opinion: There is enmity between Muslims and Jews. That has been obvious for ages. Muslims also don’t have much love for Christians. That is becoming obvious this Christmas season.

As Americans gather to celebrate Christmas, both specularly and religiously, Muslims—in particular, those of a pro-Palestine disposition—are disrupting Christmas events across the nation.

In Ypsilanti, Michigan, a pro-Muslim mob disrupted a Christmas tree lighting ceremony. The mob ruined the joyful spirit of the celebration and scared children.

“I think we made the point. We came here, we disrupted the event, we canceled Christmas, so give it up for yourselves,” a protester yelled to the mob.

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Opinion: My cousin was killed in the 2018 Parkland school shooting. Up until then, the media had trained me to be fearful of guns and to stereotype proponents of the Second Amendment as Southern, redneck racists. I grew up in a household where most of the world’s ills were blamed on Republicans, and my parents voted Democrat down the ballot.

“They are the empathetic ones who care about the little guy,” my mother would say.

However, my cousin’s death stirred up questions inside of me: Why do schools brandish “gun-free zone” signs when government buildings and Hollywood homes are protected with armed guards or security? Why does the media believe ordinary Americans must remain defenseless against unhinged psychopaths who shoot up schools?

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