ethics

Does morality come from religion or is it merely “the language games of one’s time”? Are the most basic moral boundaries we evolved that make life easier and less chaotic a reflection of the character of God? If there is no God, or if He doesn’t care about us, then our common morality is still the result of practical, reality-based needs, which also “teach” that a good life depends on the “Do unto others…” ethic.

Wendy Gonaver’s lessons on the American Constitution may soon include her own story: the refusal to sign a loyalty oath designed to root out communists in public jobs whose effect is to weed out religious believers, particularly Quakers and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Anyone who thinks that full agreement with your pastor is necessary has never been to church…

Unless you are a geneticist the answer may surprise you. The ethical problems with cloning turn out to be the result of some confusion about what cloning is, and isn’t.

In addition to the direct consequences for workers and their families, one study estimated that for every worker fired, 395 coworkers got the message: attempt to organize and you’ll get fired too.

During the Bush Administration, Rabbi Melissa Weintraub wrote a definitive condemnation of torture according to Talmudic teaching and Jewish collective memory. With the release of the CIA “torture memos,” these essays are worth revisiting. And, as Israel celebrates the 61st anniversary of its independence how does the Jewish nation itself stack up to these ideals?

When New York City’s fabled Riverside Church brought in a new, evangelical pastor with a pay package of $600K it made roaring headlines and sparked a lawsuit. Our writer attended the Sunday service and reports back on the “controversy.”

As politicians argue, and our pragmatist-in-chief tries to find an angle, we can agree that not all moral dilemmas can be reduced to a cost-benefit analysis of pleasure and pain. There are some kinds of pain a morally serious person ought never to inflict.

A Massachusetts nurse loses her job after talking to a dying patient about religion. What does this case reveal about the place of sprituality in American hospitals?

When we take the approach that “all are sinners,” we confuse big-time criminality with small-time folly. This moral obfuscation allows the far greater misfeasance of corporate creditors to get airbrushed out of the picture.