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Opinion

Ethics and Religion Talk: Can a $135 Pair of Sneakers End Bullying?

Submitted 12-26-2022 under OPINION

I was disturbed by a report about a teen buying a friend a pair of $135 sneakers because he was bullied for wearing old, dirty, shoes. It's lovely that he wanted to address his friend's bullying problem. But is buying him a $135 pair of shoes a bandaid or a solution?

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Whoops! I Gave My Vegan Friend Ham!

Submitted 12-19-2022 under OPINION

Last week, I was hanging in the park smoking cannabis and having a picnic, eating a salad. A friend came by, also smoking, and reached over and started eating my salad. ... Do I have an obligation to tell my friend that the salad he ate had ham in it?

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Ethics and Religion Talk - Pregnant and Brain Dead

Submitted 12-12-2022 under OPINION

In 2014, a Texas law required a pregnant woman to be kept on life support until the fetus is viable (24-26 weeks). Should a pregnant, brain-dead, women be kept on life support against her explicitly stated desire?

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Doctors and Death

Submitted 12-05-2022 under OPINION

Should surgeons, cancer doctors or other high-risk medical specialists be tested and evaluated on how well they deliver bad news? How important is it that they be equipped with the skills to help their patients plan for death?

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Is Your Tradition Opposed to Discrimination?

Submitted 11-28-2022 under OPINION

Is discrimination a violation of your religious principles? Does a religious belief or principle ever supersede a rule against discrimination in the public sphere?

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Are Ethicists Ethical?

Submitted 11-21-2022 under OPINION

A 2013 study suggests that the behavior of academic philosophers or ethicists is not better than other professors. Why do you think this is the case?

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Responding to Ethical Questions

Submitted 11-14-2022 under OPINION

How often are you consulted by congregants (or other adherents) about ethical dilemmas? Are Americans these days relying on their faith leaders more or less to help them with specific moral problems?”

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Come From Away Tells Heartfelt, Life-Affirming Stories In The Wake Of 9/11

Submitted 11-10-2022 under OPINION

Come From Away, brought onstage by Broadway Grand Rapids, is less about tragedy than what we can build in its remains.

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Being a Respectful Visitor

Submitted 11-07-2022 under OPINION

“I have a curiosity about other religions and have thought about visiting various houses of worship. ... I’d appreciate it if your writers could tell me how they accommodate visitors who are not exploring other religions in order to convert, but simply for purposes of cultural edification.”

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Pirates of Penzance Charms, Entertains

Submitted 10-31-2022 under OPINION

Opera Grand Rapids' staging of Pirates of Penzance, far from a museum piece, reveals the humor and charm pumping through the show's heart.

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