What's the difference?

I was watching The Ice Harvest last night (not recommended, really) and it made me think of our Veritas Forum. (Is that a sign I'm thinking about this too much? Perhaps...) Anyway, here's our working forum topic in nice big letters:

Does it matter how you live?

Of course, we disciples of Christ answer this question with a resounding "Yes!" But do we know why? Could we explain why? Could we answer Charlie Arglist when he says,

Did I ever tell you my father was a twin? Fraternal. Looked a lot alike, though, him and my uncle. Different temperaments completely. My father, he's a cop. By-the-book guy. Believed in the law, wanted his only son to be a lawyer. Drank in moderation, didn't smoke. Kept up his life insurance premiums. Voted in every election, not just for president.
Pete Van Heuten: Lemme guess, uncle didn't vote?
He said he didn't want to encourage the b*******. In and out of jail from the time he was 16... drunk all the time, f***** everything that walked. Won a fortune playing poker, lost it all the same way. Lost an eye in a fight. My father was 54 when he died of a massive embolism, right here in Wichita. My uncle died the very next day in a car wreck in California. So the point is... it is futile to regret. You do one thing, you do another... I mean, so what? What's the difference? Same result.

What do you say to someone like that? We not only need to know our answers, but reasons for them (1 Peter 3:15); and we need to be able to put forth a defense against the philosophies and people this world may throw at our claim that this life matters eternally. We need to be able to bring in a basis for morality, a meaning for this life, and the person of Jesus Christ to our answer.

And that's where this Veritas Forum comes in. Stay tuned, it's going to be amazing.