Genetics & Ethics: Topics Index

New knowledge gained from genetics research is raising a host of challenging ethical questions. These ethical questions are prompting intense theological reflection. The dramatic scale of the biomedical challenges throws us back upon first principles, back to questions about human nature, about our relationship to ourselves and to our divine source, God. In the popular press the issue is put this way: are we playing God? Another, and perhaps more instructive, way to phrase the question is: how might theological reflection on the frontier of genetic research guide and direct ethical deliberation?

Some of our farsighted religious leaders have entered into serious conversation with conscientious scientists so that cooperative thinking about our response and responsibility for the future can be anticipated.  It is worth noting that virtually all Roman Catholics and Protestants who take up the challenge of the new genetic knowledge seem to agree on a handful of theological axioms. First, they affirm that God is the creator of the world and, further, that God’s creative work is ongoing. Second, the human race is created in God’s image. In this context, the divine image in humanity is tied to creativity. God creates. So do we. With surprising frequency, we humans are described by theologians as “co-creators” with God, making our contribution to the evolutionary process.Third, religious documents place a high value on human dignity.

By “dignity” they mean what philosopher Immanuel Kant meant, namely, that we treat each human being as an end, not merely as a means to some further end. The United Church of Canada eloquently voices the dominant view: “In non-theological terms it [dignity] means that every human being is a person of ultimate worth, to be treated always as an end and not as a means to someone else’s ends. When we acknowledge and live by that principle our relationship to all others changes.”As church leaders respond responsibly to new developments in genetics, we can confidently forecast one thing: this affirmation of dignity will become decisive for thinking through the ethical implications of genetic engineering.

Yet there is more. The theology of co-creation leads Ronald Cole-Turner to a beneficent vision: “For the church, it is not enough to avoid the risks. Genetic engineering must contribute in a positive way to make the world a more just and more ecologically sustainable, and it must contribute to the health and nutrition of all humanity.”

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