It's the other way around. It is business that is influencing how churches are run. Computer-generated reminders and e-mails reminding errant members that dues or tithe payments are past due. It is the churches (all too often) that adopt and often practice the widely used business expression "by any means necessary." It is the church that has a signed contract with clergy that must be re-negotiated from time to time. So churches are usually very businesslike organizations, and the leadership wants the members to think the church is a well-run outfit especially in the stewardship of members' money. There are no easy answers, but both churches and businesses have as an overriding goal "survival." So bottom line considerations seem to dictate decision-making to a large degree. I'm not saying this state of affairs is desirable; I'm saying that's just the way it is.

This commentary hits home for me. We are often not willing to face truths in life, especially when we are found on the short end. Keep up the good work, and may God bless you.

Is the last comment reversible? If ethics is important to you, so is religion?

I've been in the student tour industry for nearly 30 years and have had the displeasure of dealing with a lot of so-called religious Jews and Christians who constantly justify and rationalize unethical and immoral behavior on tour.

It's not just the public school teachers who are accepting outrageous stipends from tour operators in exchange for a contract. Administrators and teachers can receive over $350 per student, which is taken from what the parents pay or is part of the community fundraising. One pastor, who was the principal of a church school, was receiving tens of thousands of dollars from the tour operator to run all his tours, which he pocketed.

Faith-based school teachers regularly get envelopes of cash from tour operators so they don't have to report their commissions to the IRS. When I was a tour guide, I was asked regularly, by the respective companies, to hand it to them.

Southern Baptist parents sneaked beer and whiskey into their hotel rooms to have a party after the students were in bed.

Catholic school teachers arranged their itineraries to include a visit to NYC's Chinatown in order to buy either stolen, pirated, or trademarked-infringed merchandise in an upstairs backroom for a bargain price.

And finally, the principal of the yeshiva who made the students tour on the Sabbath (we walked over three miles that day) cautioned them that they could not spend any money or eat non-kosher food. She slipped away during their museum visit and bought a hot dog and pretzel from a sidewalk vendor.

What sort of role models are these?

I've lost clients due to my expressed opinions, but I find the above actions to be indefensible and blasphemous, and I have now flatly refused to deal with these people.

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

It seems to have come to a point that business ethics have become the exception rather than the norm. It's all about the money. Insurance companies slipping "named storm deductibles" that look like advertising into homeowners policies, overpaying CEOs while laying off ordinary workers and sending work overseas taking advantage of foreign workers' poverty so they can pay wages far below what Americans require are all examples of a lack of ethics.

I am not surprised at the story of teachers and administrators getting kickbacks for trips. I am even less surprised by the Baptists with the liquor. Part of the problem with American schools is that they are a microcosm of America. Instead of being role models, administrators, in particular, are just as crooked as the overpaid CEOs, and they share their ethical lapse with their favored teachers.

Conservatives are always talking about America being a Christian country. They need to get back to the principles of honesty and caring for others that Christ espoused.

I go on websites that are basically liberal, and the liberals tell me not to bring religion into the discussion. I tell them that I cannot do that because my faith is integral to my life. It informs my values. Meanwhile, recently a writer said she was going to pray for me to get saved because I am a moderate on abortion, not a conservative. So they both get me. I actually got kicked off of a Care 2 animal rights site because I came to the defense of a man keeping his well cared for and happy tiger. I know the man personally and know he would not abuse or neglect the animal. He is a Christian and his faith informs his values. I was not consistently liberal enough for that section. Some of those folks I am sure would have picketed my house if they had known where I live.

The whole way we interact with the world is a matter of ethics and religion. If you are a Christian, you will stand up for what God says is right, popular or not. Faith informs ethics in government and business as well as your personal life. It gives you a reason to be moral.