Ethics
2 Plowshares activists win early release from prison
By Yonat Shimron — May 27, 2021
(RNS) — Martha Hennessy, 66, the granddaughter of Catholic Worker Movement founder Dorothy Day, and Carmen Trotta, 58, a Catholic worker at St. Joseph House in New York City, were released after serving six months in prison for breaking into a nuclear submarine base.
California bill could bar UC Health from affiliating with Catholic hospitals that limit abortions
By Alejandra Molina — May 7, 2021
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — Senate Bill 379 would ensure that, moving forward, UC Health would only affiliate with hospitals that will allow its staff to provide all necessary care.
She swung from purity culture to hookup culture. Now she’s written a memoir on it.
By Yonat Shimron — March 31, 2021
(RNS) — Brenda Marie Davies has written a memoir she calls a cautionary tale about the damaging message of purity culture in which she takes an unflinchingly honest look at female sexuality.
Being pro-choice doesn’t necessarily make Biden a bad Catholic
By Mark Silk — February 27, 2021
(RNS) — But he could do more to make the case.
Jewish leaders need to step up on climate change
By Mark Silk — February 3, 2021
(RNS) — The Jewish world’s environmentalist engagement of three decades ago is overdue for a revival.
I am appalled by America
By Jana Riess — December 4, 2020
(RNS) — Our Covid death toll is like having 9/11 repeated on a loop every single day, except this time we don’t need foreign terrorists to murder Americans. We’re doing a damned efficient job at that ourselves. What has happened to our country?
Muslim, Sikh and Jewish groups seek inclusion in California’s new ethnic studies curriculum
By Alejandra Molina — November 18, 2020
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — The model curriculum for high schoolers focuses on Chicanos and Latino Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and Native Americans.
Is democracy sacred?
By Anthony D. Baker — November 6, 2020
(The Conversation) — "Though politics relies on virtue, this does not make it religious," writes Anthony D. Baker.
Report: People who are highly spiritual tend to be more civic-minded
By Yonat Shimron — September 23, 2020
(RNS) — The Fetzer Institute-sponsored study also found that the more spiritual people said they were, the more inclined they appeared to be to volunteer and donate. But only 36% said their spirituality influences their political actions.
Lebanon’s disaster donation dilemma
By Nada Moumtaz — September 22, 2020
(RNS) — When disasters like last month's explosion in Lebanon happen, we want to help out. But many big aid organizations focus on their own agendas, not recipients', and in Lebanon religious charities are often controlled by politicians.
Why Jerry Falwell Jr.’s social media ‘yacht’ posts were problematic for Liberty University
By Emily McFarlan Miller — August 15, 2020
(RNS) — For leaders of religious institutions, social media can be another way to share their public messages and a peek into their private lives. But it also can be dangerous, as Falwell has discovered.
Alabama Southern Baptist pastor resigns after speaking at party for a KKK leader
By Yonat Shimron — July 30, 2020
(RNS) — Will Dismukes, who is also a Republican state representative, resigned from his church after offering an invocation at a birthday party honoring a Confederate general who was also the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
Investigation finds no evidence for recent allegations against Chris Heuertz
By Yonat Shimron — July 28, 2020
(RNS) — The investigation followed a public post signed by 33 men and women who wrote that Heuertz ‘has harmed many people.’ But none of the signers was willing to cooperate with the investigator.
Teachers at religious schools fear Supreme Court took away their civil rights
By Yonat Shimron — July 22, 2020
(RNS) — This month’s Supreme Court ruling established that any religious school teacher who performs a religious function is beyond the reach of civil rights protections accorded to other workers.
Supreme Court broadens scope of ministerial exception
By Yonat Shimron — July 8, 2020
(RNS) — The ruling allows religious schools to include lay teachers as among those subject to an exemption from civil rights laws that give workers the ability to sue for sexual harassment, overtime pay, equal pay and a myriad of other protections.
