…the DeWolf name has been honored through generations, both in the family’s hometown of Bristol, R.I., and on the national stage. Family members have been prominent citizens: professors, writers, legislators, philanthropists, Episcopal priests and bishops. Traces of the Trade reveals their deep involvement in the slave trade.
“American religious and secular values hold that medical professionals have a responsibility to provide timely and adequate medical care and that, while an individual’s conscientious objection must be protected, it cannot be at the cost of good patient care and it cannot control or restrict the legal and moral decisions of the patient.” – The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
A study by Ellison Research says more Americans consider adultery (81 percent) and racism (74 percent) sin, than homosexual activity (52 percent–the same as cheating on your taxes) or getting drunk (41 percent.) Evangelical Christians are far more likely than almost any other group to include numerous behaviors under the definition of sin.
A panel of Fairtrade farmers, business and Church leaders will question whether Fairtrade is more a niche ethical sector, soothing the consciences of rich consumers and raising supermarket bank balances, than it is a real catalyst for change
We all know what it feels like when the moralization switch flips inside us — the righteous glow, the burning dudgeon, the drive to recruit others to the cause. Steven Pinker, the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University has an essay in today’s New York Times Magazine on the science of the moral instinct–and the philisophical implicationss of that science–that is well worth a read.
The Church of England has compiled a post-Christmas debt check for consumers worried about how much their wallets have been hit by Christmas and New
This item was prompted primarily by a desire to tell as many people as possible what a wonderful movie Juno is, but to give it a little more intellectual respectability, we included a link to Ruth Marcus’ recent column on talking to her daughters about sex. And that’s when things got complicated.
This past Saturday, D.C. Superior Court Judge Zoe Bush opened her courtroom to a mock grand jury. Their charge? Whether to indict Cain for the murder of Abel. The courtroom was filled with families who got to see the familiar story played out in a modern context. But the event was more than a contemporary retelling of the Genesis story, according to Bush. It’s a hard look at “the first murder” to help examine violent crime in today’s society.
If you dog is killed in an accident, is it okay to eat it? Jonathan Haidt, associate professor of psychology at the University of Virginia examines people’s reactions to this sort of question to explore the interplay of emotions–such as disgust–and reason in the formulation of moral standards.
Whatever the evolutionary underpinnings of generosity, Olivia Judson concludes that human beings are in a unique position to make the most of it. Bees swarming in a hive must resign themselves to lifelong roles as drones or workers or dominating queens, but human society is highly flexible. Thanks to the complex pathways of the human brain, enemies can become allies, underdogs can be elevated, and the noblest aspects of human nature can be passed along to future generations.