Posts Tagged ‘Ethics’

New Zealand’s drug laws are outdated and harmful

Thursday, March 21st, 2024
drug laws

In a recent article, Dr Rose Crossin and Professor Joe Boden argue strongly and convincingly that it is time to “overhaul New Zealand’s outdated and harmful drug laws. A new approach Crossin and Bodin argue in favour of a health-based, Te Tiriti aligned approach that not only reduces harm but saves tax money and police Read more

LA’s Atheist Street Pirates go national

Thursday, May 4th, 2023
religious signs

It started as a small group of atheists tracking and removing religious signs from public streets in Los Angeles. Now, this network spans more than a handful of states, with volunteers documenting and taking down illegally placed religious material on utility poles and overpasses across the country. Known as the Atheist Street Pirates, the group Read more

Ethics of creating A.I. images in spotlight

Monday, April 3rd, 2023

Last weekend, millions of Twitter users saw Pope Francis appear on their feeds, modelling what seemed to be a custom Papal puffer coat. In reality, though, the head of the Catholic Church never wore that designer, Balenciaga-like jacket: The image was nothing more than a hyper-realistic A.I. generation. Behind this work of forgery was Pablo Read more

Artificial Intelligence: Theologians, philosophers and Catholic thinkers weigh in

Monday, February 20th, 2023
Artificial Intelligence

Like paper, print, steel and the wheel, computer-generated artificial intelligence is a revolutionary technology that can bend how we work, play and love. It is already doing so in ways we can and cannot perceive. As Facebook, Apple and Google pour billions into A.I. development, there is a fledgling branch of academic ethical study—influenced by Read more

Nurses’ union: Unethical to rely on migrant workers to fix staff shortages

Thursday, August 4th, 2022

A nursing academic says it’s unethical to rely on migrant workers to fix staff shortages. Health New Zealand will run an international recruitment service to ease immigration for health workers. But New Zealand College of Nurses Executive Director, Jenny Carryer, told Heather du Plessis Allan “there’s a 12 million-strong global shortage of nurses, and other Read more

Shade cast over shaky journalistic foundation at The Pillar

Thursday, July 29th, 2021
the pillar

Just hours after the announcement that a top official for the U.S. bishops’ conference had suddenly resigned on July 20 citing “possible improper behaviour,” a newly launched Catholic media venture, The Pillar, published a nearly 3,000-word article alleging that the priest, Msgr. Jeffrey Burrill, had engaged in “serial sexual misconduct” by frequenting gay bars and Read more

The Pillar investigation of Monsignor Burrill a unethical, homophobic innuendo

Thursday, July 22nd, 2021
the pillar

Even during a period when the bombs dropping on American Catholics fall with escalating and increasingly destructive frequency, the publication of an “investigation” of Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill, the now-former general secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, blasts a crater worth crawling down into for a forensic examination. There are reasons to think Read more

Should Catholics vaccinate using an ethically compromised vaccine?

Thursday, November 26th, 2020
Vaccine

Edward Jenner is considered the father of vaccinology. He pioneered the world’s first vaccine, which was for smallpox. Caused by a virus, smallpox was a serious disease which killed about three in ten of the people who contracted it and left many others with severe scars. Smallpox was mainly spread by direct, lengthy face-to-face contact Read more

Where Collins stands on social issues

Thursday, July 23rd, 2020
collins

Judith Collins, the new leader of New Zealand’s National Party is seen as one of the more right-wing MPs in the party with a reputation for supporting hardline law-and-order legislation. But a Newshub article says her record shows some surprising votes for socially liberal policies. Same-gender marriage In 2004, Collins voted against the  Civil Union Read more

Animal testing raises the ethical question of the Covid-19 vaccine for investors

Thursday, July 16th, 2020
investors

The search for a Covid-19 vaccine highlights a massive dilemma for many ethical investors; any vaccine will be tested on animals and so violate the rights of those animals as sentient beings. Ethical investors often don’t want to invest in companies that test on animals. But many of these same people (including me) will willingly Read more