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Ethics and Religion Talk: How Do You Help People Who Have a Pattern of Making Poor Decisions?

Submitted 04-03-2023 under OPINION

The Reverend Colleen Squires, minister at All Souls Community Church of West Michigan, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, responds: I am obligated to try to help them. Sometimes that help is guiding them to counseling or support groups....

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Where do Sermons Come From?

Submitted 03-27-2023 under OPINION

Rev. Salvatore Sapienza, the Senior Pastor at Douglas Congregational United Church of Christ in Saugatuck/Douglas, responds: I do not plan my sermons weeks in advance. Rather, I begin composing them just a few days prior to Sunday. Every Monday...

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STOMP Brings Imagination and Noise to DeVos Performance Hall

Submitted 03-21-2023 under OPINION

As a toddler, one of my greatest joys was to take a pot or pan, lift it, and let it crash to the floor. What could be better than that? Imagine this: your grandfather is stretched out on the couch, face hidden behind a newspaper. Carefully, with...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: What is a Legitimate Religious Practice?

Submitted 03-21-2023 under OPINION

Does the idea that human beings are created in the image of God gives us the divine ability to create and destroy the world around us? Science gives us this ability, but might it lead to something equivalent to "witchcraft?" Why are we not...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Should Secular Law be Based on Religious Law?

Submitted 03-13-2023 under OPINION

Father Kevin Niehoff, O.P., a Dominican priest who serves as Judicial Vicar, Diocese of Grand Rapids, responds: First, we need to understand the purpose of civil and criminal law. According to the open library at the University of Minnesota, “...

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Ethics and Religion: Is Less Religion Better?

Submitted 03-07-2023 under OPINION

According to the Pew Research Center: Depending on whether religious switching (beginning mostly in the late teen years) continues at recent rates, speeds up, or stops entirely, the projections show Christians of all ages shrinking...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Is Study of Scripture an Obligation in Your Tradition?

Submitted 02-27-2023 under OPINION

Fred Stella, the Pracharak (Outreach Minister) for the West Michigan Hindu Temple, responds: While studying the scriptures is highly recommended to devotees, it is not required at all. One can be a devoted Hindu in a variety of ways. Many adherents...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Is it Good to be the Official Religion of a Country?, part 2

Submitted 02-20-2023 under OPINION

Some panelists can point to countries where their religion is the “official” one. There, the line between Church and State is a bit more blurred than here in the US. I’m curious if each of you enjoys living in a pluralistic nation...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: Is it Good to be the Official Religion of a Country?, part 1

Submitted 02-13-2023 under OPINION

Some panelists can point to countries where their religion is the “official” one. There, the line between Church and State is a bit more blurred than here in the US. I’m curious if each of you enjoys living in a pluralistic nation...

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Ethics and Religion Talk: How Does Your Tradition Use Scripture for Preaching, part 2

Submitted 02-06-2023 under OPINION

Last week’s responses were mainly written by people from traditions in which there is a strict cycle for reading and preaching. This week we hear from panelists who have no scriptural cycle or whose traditions or houses of worship have opted...

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