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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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Ethics and Religion Talk: Violence and Religious Proselytization

Submitted 10-11-2021 under OPINION

Fred Stella, the Pracharak (Outreach Minister) for the West Michigan Hindu Temple, responds: In 2005 I embarked on a lecture (and listening) tour of 4 states of India that have a significant Christian majority.  Many of these expressions of...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Does Money Solve Marital Problems?

Submitted 10-04-2021 under OPINION

Linda Knieriemen, Senior Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Holland, responds: I would never counsel that money and grateful participation giving to charity will resolve issues— marital or otherwise. In fact, access to abundant money is...

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Grand Rapids Civic Theatre Stages Funny, Aching Musical Once

Submitted 10-01-2021 under OPINION

Grand Rapids Civic Theatre has the reputation of being haunted, but until recently I had never seen its ghost. That changed on Thursday, September 29th, as I settled in to watch Once. "For years, I was enchanted with the idea of being a...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Self-Awareness

Submitted 09-27-2021 under OPINION

The Rev. Sandra Nikkel, head pastor of Conklin Reformed Church, responds: “This topic is very dear to my heart; but growing in self-awareness is not easy. What is easy is to avoid looking at our blind spots or pretending they’re not...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Why Have I Miscarried?

Submitted 09-20-2021 under OPINION

Jeff asks for a reaction to the following story: “A young woman has been living with her boyfriend for at least a year. The relationship is over three years in duration. She conceives. Though they weren't looking to have a child, they knew...

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Circle Theatre Enters The Age of Aquarius With Hair

Submitted 09-13-2021 under OPINION

Two years before Woodstock, Hair debuted. The musical, a melange of starry-eyed anthems, provocations, and hippie fashion, soon went to Broadway. The New York Times' reviewer heralded it as "new, fresh, and unassuming." A...

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