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Churches can play a role
One of our concerns is to make it easy for ordinary people to have their say, rather than just the voices of "the usual suspects". SRT would like to help local churches to play a role in this consultation by holding events in the churches. We are now contacting a number of churches which may have interests in the subject. The idea would be invite local people to a presentation of the pro's and con's of GM crops, as impartially as possible, to highlight some of the key areas of controversy, and ask them for their own views. Would your church like to host a GM discussion?
DEMOCS Game
SRT's is also working with the New Economics Foundation to produce a card game called Democs to help people to join the national consultation in their own homes, without needing 'experts'. It aims to enable any group of people - family, friends, a church house group or the Guild - to discuss GM crops and feed back their views on the 13 questions into the main debate. If you're interested in playing the game, please contact SRT..
The SRT Project and the Keep Scotland Beautiful organisation have won funding from the Scottish Executive for the Scottish Eco-Congregation Programme, under its Sustainable Action Grants. This continues the affirmation by Government after the Jo'burg Summit of the Church's role in helping to promote grassroots environmental good practice in Scotland. The church is present in every community in the land. Eco-Congregation seeks to show that the gospel of Jesus Christ can turn good intentions about care for God's creation into practical effect in our local churches & communities. Many churches are now making environmental audits of their life, worship, premises and activities, and are taking action. St. John's Hamilton have just earned an Eco-Congregation award. We encourage you to join in!
Regional Workshops
How can you do this? The funding will allow us to plan a series of workshops to introduce and promote the programme to churches: in Dundee in June; the Borders, East Lothian, Pollock, Orkney and Inverness in the autumn; in the Kilmarnock, East Renfrew, Dunfermline and Stirling areas in Spring 2004. More immediately there's a workshop in Edinburgh on 29 May at Barclay church and in Dalbeattie on 16 June.
New, Simpler Church Checkup
For further details of these, or just to find out about the scheme, contact Victoria Beale, SRT's Assistant Director. She co-ordinates the programme for all the churches in Scotland together with Margaret Warnock at Keep Scotland Beautiful. We now have a new audit form to help a congregation to assess its environmental impact in a simple way. We also encourage churches who have inquired to take the plunge and order resource modules and begin to make a difference for the better in God's world!
"We need ways of conducting research and development that are not purely market-driven." Nobel laureate Sir John Sulson was speaking at an SRT event at the Edinburgh Science Festival in April. Sir John recently retired as Director of the Sanger Centre where a large part of the human genome map was plotted. He argued that the system in which genetic research is done is too commercially driven. Pressures on companies to raise share prices or to maximise the scope of their patents may not act in the common good. The current system can encourage blockbuster anti-depressant drugs while sidelining genetic disease research, if there was little profit interest. "I think there's every case for saying that we should swing back the pendulum and increase public research. I think we'll get more out, more cheaply."
Gene patents holding back research
He criticised patents which went beyond their legitimate scope. A breast cancer gene patent claimed rights over all tests for the gene and all other uses found for it. This gave a monopolistic ownership of something which was not an invention but a discovery. It is also preventing a lot of lines of future research. He agreed with the Kirk's criticism of a gold rush mentality on both sides of the Atlantic. "All the messages coming out of the human genome say that it's a collective thing." We should keep it that way.
The Perfect Body?
Sports scientist Dr Arthur Stewart gave a fascinating account of notions of human bodily perfection in ancient and contemporary society. There is some scientific basis for a good physique but he argued that we are more preoccupied with how we look than how healthy we are. The images we use in art, dolls and mannequins create ideals of male and female proportions that may be infertile or even biologically impossible. Even the pursuit of the perfect sporting physique can lead to athletes who are not necessarily healthy. Sport can distort the body image. The 'perfect physique' is the one you have during a long, healthy and active life, he concluded.
Has Genetic Perfection missed the point?
SRT Director Donald Bruce argued that a strand of modern genetics is pursuing a dangerous illusion of human perfection. Looking at the human being as genes can too easily lead to a functional view, with one standard of normality, which excludes defects, and stigmatises the disabled. We need to keep hold of a wider concept of our humanity. We should also draw a firm ethical line between justifiable medical treatment and attempts at personal genetic enhancement. Although mostly impractical, these would be a source of profound social inequities whose very idea of humanness is misconceived. In focusing on individual perfection it misses the vital biblical insights of relationality and moral fallenness. No amount of genetic or physical enhancement will solve our basic human and social problems or help our deepest relationships. What is really important is who we are morally and spiritually. Indeed for Christians the perfect human was Jesus, called the man of sorrows. Against the eugenic rhetoric of a few geneticists or the success orientation of some views of human medicine, a Christian understanding is realistic about humanity and can provide a better view of the place of suffering and mortality.
SRT Involvement
For SRT this is just the moment, therefore, to ask questions about the ethical and social implications. SRT Director Dr Bruce has briefed a committee of the Biotechnology Research Council on this aspect and at their invitation addressed a debate at the Royal Institution in London in March. The text of the talk will shortly be on SRT's website. We will keep you updated on further issues in this field.
Sharing Creation Care in Europe
Smaller working groups also discussed sustainable development, climate change and other issues. SRT Assistant Director Victoria Beale shared her experience of co-ordinating Eco-Congregation in Scot-land. She helped to prepare a report for the Conference of European Churches which introduces the concept of church Environmental Management, illustrated with stories of good practice. ECEN demonstrates the concern and action for the environment shared by churches across Europe. It is a positive demonstration of ecumenical co-operation contribute to the sustainability of God's earth.
Look at our extensive Worldwide Web pages. We have Information Sheets on cloning, stem cells, GM animals, GM food, GM environmental risk, patenting, environment, Eco-Congregation, energy saving, climate change, etc. Write fax, email or phone for our publications list. Our office in John Knox House has books on a range of subjects to browse. And if you know someone who'd like a copy of this newsletter, let us know!
Director : Dr Donald Bruce
Assistant Director : Victoria Beale
Administrator : Sheila Mutch
Society Religion and Technology Project,
Church of Scotland,
John Knox House, 45 High Street,
Edinburgh EH1 1SR
Tel: 0131-240 2250 Fax: 0131-240 2239
Email: srtp@srtp.org.uk
Website: http://www.srtp.org.uk
The SRT Bulletin is published 3-4 times a year
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