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Opinion

 

Ethics and Religion Talk: How are Evil People Punished in Hell?

Submitted 02-19-2019 under OPINION

The Reverend Colleen Squires, minister at All Souls Community Church of West Michigan, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, responds: “There is no concept of punishment in Unitarian Universalism while you are living or after your death...

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Good Local Journalism Is Essential to Good Governance

Submitted 02-14-2019 under OPINION

After repeated staffing cuts at the Grand Rapids Press/MLive, who’s guarding the henhouse of local government? The Rapidian is one. In December, amid public scrutiny of the police department, Lyonel LaGrone used these pages to expose a...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Is polygamy really against God's Word?

Submitted 02-12-2019 under OPINION

Dr Sahibzada, the Director of Islamic Center and Imam of the Mosque of Grand Rapids, responds: “The successful person is who purifies life, surrenders to Will of the Creator and glorifies Him through obedience to His commandments. Such best...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Is drug abuse a moral problem?

Submitted 02-12-2019 under OPINION

The Rev. Sandra Nikkel, head pastor of Conklin Reformed Church, responds: “Drug abuse is definitely connected to a moral problem. It is a selfish way to find relief from: anxiety, depression, loneliness, insecurity, pain, etc—without...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: What Should Your Death Look Like?

Submitted 01-28-2019 under OPINION

The Reverend Colleen Squires, minister at All Souls Community Church of West Michigan, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, responds: “In Unitarian Universalism a person can have a great deal of influence over how their death can occur...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: How do you know that the immortal soul exists?

Submitted 01-22-2019 under OPINION

The Rev. Sandra Nikkel, head pastor of Conklin Reformed Church, responds: “There are many things in life that can not be heard or seen: Love, hate, greed, sadness, joy, worry, etc, etc. God created us with an invisible soul which is where all...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: DNA Privacy and Misuse of Information

Submitted 01-14-2019 under OPINION

A recent NPR story raises questions of DNA privacy. “The police currently [are] using [searches of public DNA databases] to find ... [murderers] and bad people. But are we OK with using this technique to identify people in a political...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: What if Good is Not Good Enough?

Submitted 01-07-2019 under OPINION

Dr. Sahibzada, the Director of Islamic Center and Imam of the Mosque of Grand Rapids, responds: “True faith must be firm and intact of the person. The result of unshakable faith is that a believer will finally end up in the heaven. If life is...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: May a Consenting Married Couple Engage in "Swinging?"

Submitted 12-31-2018 under OPINION

Ethics and Religion Talk answered a question about four years ago about swingers. This is a follow-up question: “I am a Christian who is getting re-married this week. My human nature wants so badly to find that swinging is ‘OK’...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Should Self-Driving Cars be Programmed to Make Moral Decisions?

Submitted 12-27-2018 under OPINION

Based on an NPR report, Should Self-Driving Cars Have Ethics?, we ask the panel: Should self-driving cars be programmed with a moral decision-making capability? For example, to avoid a head on collision should the car swerve into the crosswalk...

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