Political columnists don’t generally offer advice that is generally applicable to life. One exception to that comes from Doug Giles (writing about Larry Craig):
To heck with public opinion and what people will think. Focus rather on the inevitable mano-a-mano that you will one day have with God (and He can’t be buffaloed). Let that pending appointment guide thee to get real with yourself, your family, and the public.
Imagine what life would be like if everyone took that attitude when making decisions.
Rather surprisingly this ties into something I thought of in Sunday School today. The lesson was on obedience:
An angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me. (Moses 5:6)
My thought on that was that Adam remembered what had happened the last time he disobeyed. He did not intend to be coerced into disobedience, as Eve had been, just because he did not know the reason for the commandment.