by Thom McKee Jr.

Is it possible that terrible people actually can get away with being terrible? In life, it seems that some people do horrible things and never suffer any consequences. In fact, it often appears that these terrible people actually get rewarded for being terrible people. On the other hand, we all know kind and merciful people who just never seem to get ahead in life.

This is a major stumbling block for many people when it comes to their belief as to whether there is even a God. How often do we hear people say, ” I just can’t believe that a good and loving God could let so much evil happen in the world.”

Sometimes I wonder this myself. But then I remember

by Thom McKee Jr.

Is leadership in the zombie apocalypse any different than it is in our world? Does the constant struggle for survival necessitate harsher types of authority than we have in a world with less chaos?

This is one of the issues that the show has been exploring since episode one. In the past, characters have been assuming roles of leadership by coercion, by intimidation, by persuasion and even brute force. But the result of each of these have been less than stellar. The consequences of this struggle to figure out how to organize have also been very brutal leading to the deaths of many of our characters, including Rick’s best friend Shane at the end of last season.

by Thom McKee Jr.

Have you ever been publicly accused of something that you know you did, but you didn’t want anyone to find out?

Or worse, have you ever been accused of something that you know you didn’t do?

The problem is, for most people, the reaction to both of these scenarios is usually the same. People usually swear incessantly that they did not do what they were accused of doing. The guilty and the innocent both swear that they are innocent.

by Thom McKee Jr.

Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few? Or, to put it another way, when one person is sacrificed in order to save a whole group of people, is the sacrifice justified?

You may have encountered these questions in a psychology or ethics class and my guess is that the discussion was probably lively. Many people think that collective good always trumps the individual.

by Thom McKee Jr.

Have you ever had to do something that would make you look weak? Maybe you had other options, but the option where you end up looking feeble was just the most tolerable. Most of us don’t like to look weak, but sometimes this is just the least-worst option.

When I was in Jr. High this seemed to happen all of the time. Do you remember gym class when the teacher would announce that you were going to play dodgeball? This was one of those scenarios when weakness was always the best option. When I was in seventh grade, the worst day of my life would be when we had to play the ninth graders at dodgeball. Usually it meant pain – a lot of pain! If you got hit hard enough by one of those red rubber balls, it could actually leave a mark. We called that mark the “Spalding tattoo” and it was not a badge of honor, it was a badge of shame.

by Thom McKee Jr.

Have you ever gone away for a while, and when you returned everyone seemed different? Or perhaps, you were the one who changed and everyone seemed different because they stayed the same. Either way, the experience is always shocking because, in our culture, we generally believe people don’t change.

It happened to me when I returned home to California after one semester in college in Minnesota. I was a freshman and I was attending college about two thousand miles away from where I grew up. The experience was shocking, but not nearly as shocking as the experience when I visited home for Christmas break. Every one of my friends seemed different… or were they? In actuality,

by Thom McKee Jr.

What does the word “family” mean to you? Is it your mother and father and your siblings?  Does it include people that you aren’t related to? Perhaps, the people you call family aren’t even related to you by blood.

My guess is that we all have different answers to those questions. For many of us, our biological family is a source love and security. For others, it only brings up painful memories. Some of us never even knew our biological families. Others grew up with them, but don’t know them anymore.

No matter what your circumstances, most of us agree that the definition of the word family is very fluid.

For Daryl, we are at a place where he is conflicted about