Engineering happiness
The ground is being set for a new culture war, some believe, and it's likely to make the skirmish over "family values" seem like a playground dispute."At the core of the conflict," reports USNews.com, the online presence of US News and World Report, "lies a fundamental question: How far should homo sapiens be allowed to go?
Nascent technologies like genetic engineering, stem-cell therapy, and neuropharmacology promise not only to cure our diseases but to enhance our bodies, even to turn us all into the Six Million Dollar Man--better, stronger, and faster.Right now, the debate plays out primarily in the fields of medicine and ethics. But you can bet it's coming to our faith communities soon.
Denominations and the national bodies of non-Christian faiths can be expected to make pronouncements about the ethics of biotechnology, and religious ethicists and systematic theologians will no doubt tackle the question.
But it will be up to pastoral caregivers to help families make difficult and faithful decisions about choosing the sex of a child, enhancing the physical performance of an ailing body, or enhancing moods and intelligence through drug therapy with legal pharmeceuticals.
Are we ready to engage these questions from the pulpit and in the pew?
.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Tuesday, May 25, 2004
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