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Can You Find Hope in a Small Town?

Submitted 07-02-2020 under OPINION

I hate small towns. I understand that’s not a great place to start, given my audience, but it’s important for me to be real. When I moved here for college I expected my stint to be temporary and unattached. Allendale represented...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Are those who took own life resurrected?

Submitted 06-29-2020 under OPINION

The Reverend Colleen Squires, minister at All Souls Community Church of West Michigan, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, responds: “The Universalist part of our faith believes in universal salvation, no one would ever be denied...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: What is the place of Religious Institutions in Society?

Submitted 06-22-2020 under OPINION

Rev. Ray Lanning, a retired minister of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, responds: “Presbyterianism teaches that ‘the visible church … consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion,...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Which Religion is the most correct?

Submitted 06-15-2020 under OPINION

Fred Stella, the Pracharak (Outreach Minister) for the West Michigan Hindu Temple, responds: “Well, in reality how would anyone really know? I can say that there is a built-in humility in Hinduism (but by no means are all Hindus humble!) that...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: How Does Atonement Work?

Submitted 06-08-2020 under OPINION

The Reverend Colleen Squires, minister at All Souls Community Church of West Michigan, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, responds: “We must own our mistakes without excuses. We need to offer an apology to those we have harmed. We...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Can we have both Justice and Peace?

Submitted 06-01-2020 under OPINION

My tradition teaches, Tzedek, Tzedek, Tirdof, “Justice, justice, shall you pursue!” Police officers who violate the boundaries of their training when using deadly force and cause injury or death should be prosecuted. Former police...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: The Morality of Politics

Submitted 05-25-2020 under OPINION

The Reverend Colleen Squires, minister at All Souls Community Church of West Michigan, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, responds: "Yes, I believe the ideology that expresses the most compassion for others takes the moral high ground...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Celebrating our 400th column!

Submitted 05-18-2020 under OPINION

This column is the 400th appearance of Ethics and Religion Talk in the Grand Rapids Press since we began on July 31, 2012, almost eight years ago. My initial vision, when creating the column, was to model a kind of respectful interfaith dialogue, in...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Is God's Role to be Fearsome or Loving?

Submitted 05-11-2020 under OPINION

The Rev. Sandra Nikkel, head pastor of Conklin Reformed Church, responds: “Yes, God is a divine power to be feared, a holy Being, and a loving creator. Most people believe all, or some, of these descriptions about God. But people have a harder...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Is Family Important? Why?

Submitted 05-04-2020 under OPINION

Fred Stella, the Pracharak (Outreach Minister) for the West Michigan Hindu Temple, responds: “I can’t imagine any of my colleagues arguing with the spiritual, social and evolutionary reasons why family is critical to our existence. I am...

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