Articles written by Mary W. Matthews

What is Helium

About me - Mary W. Matthews

I've been a writer and editor for my entire professional life. As an editor, I have won awards for excellence from several national educational nonprofits.

I've also been deeply interested in the philosophy of religion all my life: IS there a God? What has

+ more bio information

RSS Feed

Society & Lifestyle > Social Values & Norms Views on abortion: 2 of 223
There are five excellent sets of reasons why abortion should remain legal.(1) BIOLOGICAL. Many women have suffered, and some have died, over the fundamentalists' insistence that life begins at ejaculation. The debate over when life begins is spurious. A living man meets a living woman, and a living sperm meets a living egg an... More..
Society & Lifestyle > Personal Morals & Values The essence of a beautiful mind: 1 of 20
Most of us know what we find visually beautiful: great works of art, lush landscapes, international supermodels, or the joy of a loved one, for example. Auditory beauty is easy too: music that is loved; a voice you'd be content to hear reading a phone book aloud; children's laughter. You know a beautiful smell when you smell ... More..
Celebrations & Holidays > Gifts for Women For men: How to shop for a great anniversary gift: 6 of 66
Whether it's your sixth "month-iversary" or your 600th, the perfect gift will say to your woman, "I love you. You're the most important woman in the world to me."It doesn't have to be expensive (although you should gauge how much to spend by how important the anniversary is to HER). The point is not how much you spend; it's h... More..
Relationships & Family > Gay & Lesbian Issues Should homosexuals receive all the rights and benefits of marriage?: 13 of 130
If two people love one another and wish to spend the rest of their lives together as a partnership, it ought not to matter whether they are the same race or mixed races, the same national heritage or not (e.g., it should be legal for a Scots-American woman to marry a Japanese-American man), the same religion or not, or the sa... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Constitutional & Contract Law Should a woman have the right to choose abortion?: 45 of 428
There are dozens of excellent reasons why women should have the right to make their own decisions about what happens to their own bodies. The two most important sets of reasons are biological and moral.BIOLOGICALNo one wastes time debating whether a woman has the right to have fibroid tumors removed from her uterus, even thou... More..
Relationships & Family > Communication Issues The truth: Do we really want to hear it?: 5 of 47
Do we really want to hear the truth? Well, that depends on just what is meant by "the truth."You can use "the truth" to convey a lie with, usually by telling only part of the truth. For example, you tell people you saw someone you don't like run towards an innocent old lady screaming and yelling and knock her to the ground, b... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Religion & Spirituality (Other) Questions in faith that remain unanswered: 1 of 9
Most people who consider themselves faithful have questions that will forever remain unanswered. Some of these are questions our very membership in a faith community make unaskable, like "Does God REALLY exist?" Many of them, though, are questions that test the very premises of a religion, and these questions OUGHT to be aske... More..
Sports & Recreation > Martial Arts Getting started with Tai Chi Chuan: 1 of 9
Silently, the group bows to the spirit of compassion. In perfect synchrony, the group begins to move — slowly, gently, gracefully; they remain silent, but for the occasional call of "single whip" or "two more, please." They could be dancers, if only there were music; they could be fighting, if the enemy were invisible a... More..
Relationships & Family > Communication Issues Is it wiser to always tell the truth?: 2 of 16
Never live by rules that involve the words "always" or "never." Life just isn't that simple. (Nor should it be!)A lie is a statement made with the intention of deceiving another person. But there are three categories of lies: lies that cause injury to a person, thing, or idea; what St. Augustine called "honest, charitable, we... More..
Relationships & Family > Divorce & Legal Issues Should it be compulsory for couples to sign a prenuptial agreement before marriage?: 7 of 52
Marriage is a legal contract between two people. While for many marriages, perhaps most, a prenuptial agreement is a good idea, it certainly ought NOT to be compulsory. For one thing, a prenuptial agreement is a contract too, meaning that you'd be compelled to enter into a pre-contract contract!Because marriage is a legal con... More..