Feb. 12 marks the birthday of Charles Darwin and the celebration of Darwin Day, an observance aimed at highlighting the theory of evolution set forth in Darwin’s seminal 1859 work, “The Origin of Species.” Even today, evolution remains a flash point in the debate between faith and science, believers and nonbelievers.
The anniversary of the Jan. 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion always sparks discussions about this hot-button issue, and the annual March for Life in Washington is one focus of attention. But the Republican takeover of the House has also raised hopes — and concerns — that new legislation could limit abortion rights.
Every year on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day raises awareness about the global spread of HIV infection and AIDS, with statesmen, celebrities and religious leaders announcing new initiatives and releasing statements of support for AIDS patients, doctors and researchers.
The 2010 midterm congressional elections promised to reshape the political landscape, and they did just that, as Republicans swept to victory in the House while cutting deeply into the Democratic majority in the Senate. But the vote also recast the terrain on moral and social issues important to believers of all political persuasions.
The popularity of in-vitro fertilization and other procedures that require the creation of multiple embryos has resulted in an excess of frozen embryos, as many as 500,000. What to do with them, and whether couples can “adopt” them to gestate them to birth, is an ethical conundrum and a matter of intense debate.
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is shaping up as an environmental and social disaster of epic proportions — and one that is also prompting a great deal of national soul-searching. Ethical, moral and religious aspects of the catastrophe are playing a critical role in the debate.
Earth Day’s 40th anniversary arrives on April 22 with people of faith promoting environmentalism more than ever — and others revering nature to the extent that some wonder if ecology is a new religion.
Health care reform may be approaching a make-or-break moment as President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats push to pass a bill by the weekend while Republicans have vowed to oppose the legislation. The urgency has further galvanized religious bodies and lobbies that have dedicated themselves to seeing health care reform pass — or fail.
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