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“Rather than to try to change God, prayer should change us, should make us better human beings. That is the ultimate purpose of prayer,” says Cantor Abraham Lubin of Congregation Beth El in Bethesda, Maryland. We spoke with him as he prepared for the high holidays. More
In the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks on September 11, we discuss questions about justice, forgiveness, and retribution with four religious leaders and scholars. More
For many religious believers, the attacks on September 11 evoked a sense of almost apocalyptic horror. As the hours unfolded, people of faith across the country reached out in whatever way they could. More
A new report from the Institute of Medicine, which advises the government on health policy, calls on the U.S. to do far more than is now being done to relieve the suffering of dying children and their families. Doctors and families face a dilemma in trying to choose between painful treatment that is unlikely to work and palliative care to make possible a so-called “good death.” More
As a result of the Human Genome Project, we now know much more about a person’s medical future than ever before. But this new knowledge has given rise to many medical, legal, and ethical questions More
Paryushana Parva is a festival of fasting, friendship, and forgiveness. Members of the Jain faith are celebrating the holiest time of the year. It coincides with monsoon season in India, which is where Jainism began.
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One of the consequences of the Holocaust was its effect on the faith of observant Jews. How could a just God have permitted such a tragedy? Today, the personal story, in his words, of Menachem Daum, a New York television producer whose parents were both Holocaust survivors. More
Missionary work is something of a rite of passage in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Over the course of 18 months to two years, young men and women will work 16 hours a day, six days a week. On average, each one will convert ten persons during that period. But with 60,000 missionaries in the field, that is enough to produce 300,000 new converts a year. More
BOB ABERNETHEY: When may a lawyer reveal what a client tells him in confidence? The American Bar Association recently made the rule less restrictive. It permits — but does not require — lawyers to disclose confidences to prevent, quote, “reasonably … More
BOB ABERNETHY: As President Bush approaches a decision on whether the Federal government should fund research on embryonic human stem cells, religious groups are on both sides of the debate. For many, the fundamental issue is the moral status … More