Come join my next live Rationally Selfish Webcast! This week, I’ll answer questions on the purpose of bankruptcy law, bathrooms for the transgendered, private versus state prisons, revealing atheism to religious parents, and more.

As always, it’s on Sunday morning at 8 am PT / 9 am MT / 10 am CT / 11 am ET. You can watch the webcast and join in the text chat via www.RationallySelfish.com. Greg Perkins of Objectivist Answers will be my audio co-host.

Each week, I answer questions on practical ethics and the principles of living well. I select the most popular and interesting questions from the ongoing queue of questions. Please submit your questions, as well as vote and comment on questions that you find interesting!

Here are the questions that I’ll answer this week:

• Question 1: The Purpose of Bankruptcy Law: What is the proper purpose of bankruptcy laws? When should a person renegotiate his debt with lenders, if ever? Should a person be able to wipe his debt clean by going into bankruptcy? You’ve suggested that a person shouldn’t be able to do that, but shouldn’t lenders be responsible for who they lend money to?
• Question 2: Bathrooms for the Transgendered: Which bathroom should a transgendered person use? The brutal attack at McDonald’s on a transgendered person in April 2011 was apparently started because that person used the ladies restroom, which was already occupied by a 14 year old. Was the transgendered person wrong to use that restroom?
• Question 3: Private Versus State Prisons: Should prisons be run by the state or private companies? After reading this Huffington Post article ( http://huff.to/pqmeAk ), I wonder whether prisons should be run by private companies or the state. I tend to think private is almost always better than anything state-run, but the current system of private prisons seems to be corrupt at best. More generally, what would a prison system look like in a free society?
• Question 4: Revealing Atheism to Religious Parents: How much should I tell my parents about my beliefs, given that I’m still financially dependent on them? I’m in college, and if I told my parents that I’m an atheist, they’d probably stop paying my tuition. Should I tell them now, or wait until I’m done college?

After that, we’ll do a round of totally impromptu “Rapid Fire Questions.”

If you can’t attend the super-fun live webcast, you can listen to these webcasts later as audio-only podcasts by subscribing to the NoodleCast RSS feed:

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However, I hope that you’ll join the live webcast, because that’s more exciting and lively than the podcast. People chat merrily amongst themselves while watching the webcast. And I love the immediate feedback of a live audience — the funny quips, serious comments, and follow-up questions. So please join the live webcast when you can!

Finally, you can support the Rationally Selfish Webcast (and Podcast) contributing to our tip jar. We suggest $5 per episode or $20 per month, but any amount is appreciated. If you would prefer to send a check, please send it to “Diana Hsieh; P.O. Box 851; Sedalia, CO 80135.” Please write “RS Webcast” in the memo field.

I hope to see you on Sunday morning!