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Opinion

 

Ethics and Religion Talk: How Do We Solve the Problem of Violence?

Submitted 12-06-2021 under OPINION

Linda Knieriemen, Senior Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Holland, responds: “Violence and corruption will always be a part of this created world. Always have been, always will. Humans have free will, are prone to selfishness, and...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Do we Need Blue Roses?

Submitted 11-30-2021 under OPINION

Should we be creating blue roses? Father Kevin Niehoff, O.P., a Dominican priest who serves as Judicial Vicar, Diocese of Grand Rapids, responds: “One need not look further than Pope Francis’s encyclical, Laudato Si. Pope Francis very...

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Grand Rapids Civic Theatre Stages The Sound Of Music

Submitted 11-24-2021 under OPINION

"I don't want to be thought of as wholesome," Julie Andrews once said but it was too late. Mary Poppins (1964) instantly established her as a model of wholesomeness, and, a year later, The Sound of Music settled the...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: This Thanksgiving, What are You Grateful For?

Submitted 11-22-2021 under OPINION

Father Kevin Niehoff, O.P., a Dominican priest who serves as Judicial Vicar, Diocese of Grand Rapids, responds: I am most grateful for scientists and public health officials who demonstrate a strong desire to respect human life as we struggle...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Are Monkey-Human Hybrid Embryos Kosher?

Submitted 11-17-2021 under OPINION

Colleen writes: “For the first time, U.S. and Chinese scientists have created embryos that are part human, part monkey, in an effort to find new ways to produce organs for transplants. As a faith leader what are the ethical concerns based on...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Does Tolerance Demand Moral Relativism?

Submitted 11-08-2021 under OPINION

Fred Stella, the Pracharak (Outreach Minister) for the West Michigan Hindu Temple, responds: “I believe the questioner is referring to what we call ‘moral relativity.’ If that is the case, I see both a positive and negative side to...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Who Needs Doctors When You have God?, part 2

Submitted 11-01-2021 under OPINION

John wrote: “I read something you talked about use of medicine. To me, God is able to heal without medicines. I live without any medicine and whenever I get sick, I pray to God and He answers my prayers, including a non-curable disease that He...

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Opera Grand Rapids Stages Don Giovanni

Submitted 10-27-2021 under OPINION

After an absence of two years, Opera Grand Rapids returned to Devos Performance Hall with Don Giovanni. Times had changed; an attendant confirmed COVID-19 vaccination or the results of a recent negative test, and masks were required throughout the...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Who Needs Doctors When You have God?, part 1

Submitted 10-25-2021 under OPINION

“I read something you talked about use of medicine. To me, God is able to heal without medicines. I live without any medicine and whenever I get sick, I pray to God and He answers my prayers, including a non-curable disease that He healed me...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Cost of Religion

Submitted 10-18-2021 under OPINION

Kathleen asks, “There is clearly a cost of adhering to a religious tradition (in the Jewish tradition, the cost of keeping the dietary laws comes to mind). The question is how much should the economic cost of following one’s religious...

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