The Rapidian Home

Opinion

 

Ethics and Religion Talk: Is a belief in an afterlife required in your faith?

Submitted 06-24-2024 under OPINION

As a Protestant who has attended many churches of various denominations, I have noticed that the idea of an afterlife is so very important to some communities, while in others it is virtually never mentioned in sermons other than at funerals. I'...

[read more]

Ethics and Religion Talk: What do visitors to your place of worship need to know?

Submitted 06-17-2024 under OPINION

Linda Knieriemen, a retired pastor of the Presbyterian Church (USA), responds: Visitors and non-members are permitted to participate in every way, including participating in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Even for the questioner, the...

[read more]

Grand Rapids Circle Theatre stages "You Can't Take It With You"

Submitted 06-14-2024 under OPINION

Humor tends to age like avocados. Start reading "Our American Cousin," the comedic play Abraham Lincoln was watching when John Wilkes Booth assassinated him, and you’ll soon realize that there are worse things than getting shot. That...

[read more]

Ethics and Religion Talk: Does your faith depend on an afterlife?

Submitted 06-10-2024 under OPINION

The Rev. Sandra Nikkel, head pastor of Conklin Reformed Church, responds: I would serve God and love Him even if there was no heaven. Knowing Him has made me the person who I am today. He has healed my heart and His love has transformed my life. I...

[read more]

"Beautiful" dramatizes Carole King's journey from high school to Carnegie Hall

Submitted 06-09-2024 under OPINION

Released in 1971, Carole King's "Tapestry" was the top-selling album for 15 weeks. It went on to sell over 14 million copies, earn four Grammys and lodge itself in the canon as a defining work of its era. How that came to be and...

[read more]

Orville Peck takes off the mask

Submitted 06-06-2024 under OPINION

Orville Peck might have stepped out of mid-century America. That's partly because of his voice. When he goes low, he sometimes sounds like Elvis. His upper register evokes Roy Orbison. It's also because of his songs. Peck writes the kind of...

[read more]

Ethics and Religion Talk: As you've aged, have you grown more hopeful or more cynical?

Submitted 06-03-2024 under OPINION

Linda Knieriemen, a retired pastor of the Presbyterian Church (USA), responds: I served for 30 years as a pastor and am grateful that my age and circumstances allowed me to retire three years ago at age 65. I feel less optimistic but more hopeful....

[read more]

Ethics and Religion Talk: How does your tradition understand the role of autonomy in medical care?

Submitted 05-28-2024 under OPINION

What is the role of autonomy in medical care? Do your religious beliefs allow you to refuse simple medical procedures (i.e., dental care, skin biopsies, colonoscopies), even though such refusal might lead to major medical problems or death? What...

[read more]

Tick, Tick...Boom! Explodes Into Song

Submitted 05-24-2024 under OPINION

In high school, faced with yet another rejection slip, I hit upon what seemed to me an irresistible idea: write a poem about rejection on the back of the slip and submit it. The editor to whom I’d sent the first poem rejected that one, too....

[read more]

Twenty years on, Wicked still soars

Submitted 05-23-2024 under OPINION

Having grossed over $1.6 billion in revenue, Wicked is the most popular musical of the century and the second-most popular of all time (The Lion King, which is nearing $2 billion, is the only show to have surpassed it).  How does a show get to...

[read more]

Browse