You don’t have to be a sports fan to know that the NFL’s policy concerning suspending players needs overhaul. There has been some debate about the two-game suspension of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. He received that “punishment” for knocking out his fiancée and then dragging her unconscious body outside a casino elevator. There is no question he did it. The entire scene was caught on tape.

Some of us might not really care about what the NFL does. But we have to realize that when a high profile person (athlete, actor, singer) physically abuses a woman and receives little punishment, it sends the wrong signal to society. That is why many have said that a two-game suspension is too light a punishment.

Critics point out that if he had been caught smoking marijuana, he might have been suspended for a season. As one wag put it “that’s the equivalent of knocking out eight women.” Another critic pointed to a player that was accused of getting free tattoos from his college. He faced a five game suspension. Even other critics wondered what his punishment might have been if he was caught on camera making a derogatory comment about homosexuals.

The NFL can say that it does not condone its players being physically abusive to women. Of course, that could be said of every business or corporation in America. But actions speak louder than words. A two-game suspension sends the message that physical abuse isn’t a big issue. Apparently there wasn’t even a specific NFL policy dealing with suspensions for physical abuse. There was a policy for drug use.

It doesn’t matter if you are a fan of football or not. The NFL is probably the most visible sports business in the country. What the NFL commissioner and the NFL owners do reverberates through society. When players who make their living in a violent sport bring that same mindset to society, we should pay attention. And when the NFL gives a physically abusive player a two-game suspension, we should be concerned and ask the NFL to reconsider.

If you are on Twitter, perhaps you have seen the hashtag that asks, How Old Were You? Professor Karen Swallow Prior created it to highlight the problem of child sexual abuse and sexual predators. She was on my radio program to explain its origin and surprising response.

She believes the church must deal more honestly with sexual temptation. She was also overwhelmed and saddened by the number who posted the age when they were first sexually pursued by an adult authority figure.

Mary DeMuth has written about childhood sexual abuse and also joined us on the program. I would recommend her memoir Thin Places and her latest book, Not Marked. She confirmed that as many a one in four women have been sexually abused in some way.

Karen Prior started the Twitter campaign because of a post in Leadership Journal written by a former youth pastor that sexually abused someone under his care. The outcry from readers led to the post being removed from the website. She wanted to do something more and started the #HowOldWereYou hashtag campaign.

She was amazed at the naiveté and blindness of people in leadership. She wrote that: “it’s time for the church to stop being shocked and face reality with open eyes.” She also wanted acknowledge her “disappointment at the overwhelming (although not total) silence from the leaders on my side of the church aisle, leaders for whom I have the deepest respect.”

I raised the question of how this can affect churches. One expert estimates that between 1% and 5% of the population molest children. Even if we use the lower percentage estimate, that still means that at least ten people in a church of 1,000 are potential problems. We would certainly hope none of them are working in the nursery or youth ministry.

She argues that we should not “adopt a culture of fear, suspecting anyone whose hand we shake at Sunday morning worship is a thief.” But she also concludes, “we don’t leave our wallets unattended in the robe room either.” We need to pay more attention to sexual abuse in the culture and even in our churches.

If you are dying or dealing with a chronic debilitating disease, I think you should be able to choose to try an experimental procedure. It may not work, but then again, it might work. Why shouldn’t you be allowed to try something that is still experimental?

That has been my philosophy for many years, so I was encouraged to read a commentary by Kevin Tracey making a similar point. He describes himself as a “neurosurgeon-scientist and entrepreneur who co-founded a bioelectronics medicine company.” He quotes one of the Google co-founders who said he wouldn’t be interested in getting into the health care industry because “the regulatory burden in the U.S. is so high that I think it would dissuade a lot of entrepreneurs.”

Kevin Tracey doubts that there will ever be enough regulatory reform at the FDA or in other parts of government controlling health care to encourage entrepreneurs to enter the health care arena and bring their mindset and innovations to help patients and physicians. He argues that the “government and entrepreneurs should be allowed to carve out their own turf and let patients choose their own level of risk.”

He uses the example of a truck driver from Bosnia who suffered from long-standing rheumatoid arthritis. His hands were so swollen that he could not hold on to a wheel or even play with his children. When Kevin Tracey first met him, you would never know he had a problem. That is because a year earlier he was the first patient to receive therapy from Kevin’s invention. The bioelectronics implant helped restore his mobility and even allowed him to play tennis.

Now people are contacting him and willing to travel to Europe to get access to this device. Patients are willing to take a calculated risk.

Why shouldn’t people be able to take that risk? Why can’t we create an environment where patients are informed that the FDA has not finished clinical trials but they can proceed anyway? It could help the patients. It would also attract talented entrepreneurs who are currently sitting on the sidelines.

The purging of Christians from countries in the Middle East has been taking place for years, but the latest Christian purge from Mosul is the most disturbing. Christians are given the choice of converting to Islam or fleeing. Any who remain would face certain death from ISIS. Thousands have left the city with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing.

A recent Wall Street Journal editorial asks a good question. “Imagine if a fundamentalist Christian sect captured the French city of Lyon and began a systematic purge of Muslims. Their mosques were destroyed, their crescents defaced, the Koran burned and then all Muslims forced to flee or face execution. Such an event would be unthinkable today, and if it did occur Pope Francis and all other Christian leaders would denounce it and support efforts by governments to stop it.”

The point they are making is the lack of concern from the Muslim world about what is happening right now in Iraq. To that I might add, my disappointment at the lack of comment even from so many in the west. Let me immediately give high praise to such spokesman as Representative Frank Wolf. He has been on my radio program a number of times and has spoken forcefully about the plight of Christians in these Middle Eastern countries where radicals dominate the political landscape. Sadly, he and a few others are the few voices speaking out about the purge of Christians in Muslim countries.

The Christian purge by ISIS may be the most visible and the most brutal, but there have been many other similar examples. Radical Muslims in Egypt have driven the Coptic Christians from their homes. Radical Muslims in various parts of Africa have killed and persecuted Christians.

This purging of Christians is reminiscent of the way the Muslim army pursued a religious war against Jews and Christians in previous centuries. We should be hearing a loud outcry from Jews, Christians, and moderate Muslims about what is happening. I am thankful for the few voices that speak out but appalled that so very few do.

Nancy Pearcey has been writing important books that every Christian should read. Her book, Total Truth, won the ECPA Gold Medallion Award many years ago. Her most recent book, Saving Leonardo, reminds us of the importance of applying a Christian worldview to every area of life, including the arts.

In a recent interview, she mentioned a study in that book that is relevant to pastors, parents, and youth leaders. The study asked why so many young people lose their Christian convictions when they leave home. In the process of asking that question, the researchers discovered what they believe is the single factor most significant in helping young people keep their faith.

It is not what you might expect. Most of us might think it might be something like: attending a bible-teaching church, graduating from a Christian school, or joining a Christian group on campus. Those may all be important and are certainly helpful.

Actually the most important factor was whether they were allowed as teenagers to wrestle with doubts and questions. The study concluded, “The more college students felt that they had the opportunity to express their doubt while they were in high school, the higher [their] levels of faith maturity and spiritual maturity.”

At the Probe Mind Games conference, we often meet students who were never allowed to ask questions or express doubts. The mindset in some youth groups and in some homes is that you should never question the Christian faith. Perhaps the assumption behind that is that the Bible and Christianity cannot stand investigation. That, of course, it not true. Unfortunately, many students aren’t allowed to evaluate the claims of Christ or research the reliability of the Bible. We are sadly setting them up for failure.

Every generation needs to receive biblical instruction from the previous generation. But they also have to make their faith real to them. We should encourage a safe environment where students can express doubts and ask questions. Christianity can withstand their examination and pass the test.