Opinions

Today’s news reveal all the upheaval in war-torn countries with poverty and hunger, spread of diseases and destruction of homes and cities. Then people in our free country stay on negative terms about living here.

You received the phone call that buckles your knees. Or hear the police officer’s knock on the door. Or the doctor solemnly walks toward you in the hospital waiting room. And now you have just heard the worst news of your life. You’ve lost the most important person in your world.

Last time, we began to unpack Friedrich Nietzsche’s “God is dead” philosophy by looking at his assertion that there is no objective (absolute) truth or moral values, and that could only happen with the death of God and the abandonment of Christian values. But there is more to the story than that.

DEAR ABBY: I often see ads about stopping smoking. I’d like to share my story of success in overcoming this filthy habit in the hope that it may help someone else. I smoked four packs of non-filtered cigarettes every day. At the age of 37, I knew I wanted to quit.

DEAR ABBY: My brother has ALS and lives in another state. He has a wife and children. His wife has decided that when family visits from out of state, they need to stay in a hotel instead of their house because she does not have the capacity to host.

DEAR ABBY: After my father died by suicide, my mother moved the family across the country. I was 13, and I never discussed my father’s death with anyone. Now, 50 years later, my best friend from high school has terminated our friendship because I don’t support her politics.

DEAR ABBY: My father and I have had a contentious relationship since I was a teenager. Despite being raised in his house, my values are different from his, and he takes it personally. I left home as soon as I was old enough and have lived the way I want since then.

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are celebrating our second anniversary. For the most part, we’re very happy. He’s the best friend I’ve ever had. The problem is his family. They’re wonderful people who have welcomed me with open arms. But they are also extremely clingy and lack common boundaries.

DEAR ABBY: For the past two years, I have been trying to conceal from my family (with modest success) that I’m asexual.

DEAR ABBY: My sister is cheap. She’s also not good at choosing gifts for people. Often, the things she gives are worse than if she’d done nothing at all.