ethics
Ethics and Religion Talk: May a Consenting Married Couple Engage in "Swinging?"
by (Rabbi David J.B...)
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’...
Ethics and Religion Talk: Should Self-Driving Cars be Programmed to Make Moral Decisions?
by (Rabbi David J.B...)
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...
Ethics and Religion Talk: Does clergy child abuse cover-up affect clergy moral authority? Part 2
by (Rabbi David J.B...)
Submitted 12-17-2018 under OPINION
Continued from last week: In recent months we have seen reports from Philadelphia of wide spread clergy sexual abuse of children followed by wide spread cover-up also committed by clergy. As a member of the clergy what do you think of your...
Ethics and Religion Talk: Does the clergy child abuse cover-up affect clergy moral authority?
by (Rabbi David J.B...)
Submitted 12-10-2018 under OPINION
James writes, “In recent months we have seen reports from Philadelphia of widespread clergy sexual abuse of children followed by widespread cover-up also committed by clergy. As a member of the clergy what do you think of your profession...
Ethics and Religion Talk - Forgiving oneself
by (Rabbi David J.B...)
Submitted 12-03-2018 under OPINION
The Rev. Sandra Nikkel, head pastor of Conklin Reformed Church, responds: It takes courage to admit to wrongdoing but it takes more courage to forgive oneself. We need the courage to accept God's forgiveness and believe that he will not hold...
Ethics and Religion Talk: Is renting space to Unitarians a defamation of God's name?
by (Rabbi David J.B...)
Submitted 11-26-2018 under OPINION
Sometimes people send me sensitive questions for the column anonymously. Like the high school teacher who wanted to know what the panel thought about the ethics of going to a nude beach. But if you want to criticize me, please sign your name. I...
Ethics and Religion Talk: What are you grateful for? Part 2
by (Rabbi David J.B...)
Submitted 11-19-2018 under OPINION
Happy Thanksgiving! Let’s remember what has enriched our lives during this past year. This week, the Ethics and Religion Talk panel continue to answer the question, ‘What is the one thing in your life, in your community, in the world...
Ethics and Religion Talk: What are you grateful for? Part 1
by (Rabbi David J.B...)
Submitted 11-12-2018 under OPINION
We welcome the Reverend Rachel J. Bahr, pastor of Plymouth UCC, to the panel. She replaces the recently retired Reverend Doug Van Doren. Her response: “My wife and I were married February 18, 2018, and it certainly was a mountaintop experience...
Ethics and Religion Talk: Does God really hate divorce?
by (Rabbi David J.B...)
Submitted 11-05-2018 under OPINION
Fred Stella, the Pracharak (Outreach Minister) for the West Michigan Hindu Temple, responds: “To begin with, God doesn’t ‘hate’ anything. In Chapter IX of the Bhagavad Gita it states, ‘I know not hate, I know not favor...
Ethics and Religion Talk: Non-Biblical sources of wisdom
by (Rabbi David J.B...)
Submitted 10-29-2018 under OPINION
The Reverend Colleen Squires, minister at All Souls Community Church of West Michigan, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, responds: “This may surprise many but most Unitarian Universalists do not rely on scripture to make our...