THEME ARCHIVES

• Climate Change
• Cloning
• End Of Life Issues
• Energy
• Engineering Genesis
• Environment
• Ethics of Defence
• Genetic Engineering
• Genetically Modified Animals
• Genetically Modified Food and Crops
• God and Science
• Greening the Church
• Human Genetics
• Internet Ethics
• Mental Health
• Nuclear Power
• Patenting and the Biological World
• Risk
• Stem Cells
• Technology and Society
• Transport
• Xenotransplantation

SRT@40 by John Butterfield

Published: Jan 26, 2011

SRT 40th Anniversary Conference, by John Butterfield, Methodist Minister, Stirling.

The Church of Scotland's Society, Religion and Technology Project celebrated its 40^th birthday  in November with a day conference in Edinburgh. Over the last forty years, under a series of distinguished directors, SRTP has examined some of the vital issues within the area of technology, religion and society. It has gained a reputation for the quality and fairness of its work, independent of vested interests and pressure groups.  In 1999 the Project won a Templeton Prize in recognition of its pioneering work at the interface of ethics and technology.

The last forty years has been a period of rapid technological change and throughout the project has not only kept up with the latest developments but also examined where humanity may be heading. Crucially it relates science to social ethics to examine the impact on the lives of ordinary people. Though there was an inevitable element of reflection on past achievements, the conference speakers explored some of the issues the project is currently focussed on.

Prof John Wyatt of University College London spoke on medical ethics at the beginning and end of life. From his neo-natal experience he highlighted that it costs £1000 per day to keep alive a pre-term baby  showing how much society values babies, yet four in ten women in London have an abortion. Testing for abnormalities in the womb results in 90% of mothers choosing to terminate if advised that their unborn child has downs syndrome. The process of producing a baby can involve a sperm donation, an egg donation, a womb rental and ultimately a carer. The four people need not ever meet – and many of the transactions can be undertaken on the internet. Producing a child can be a complex process fraught with anxiety!

With the Scottish parliament considering a bill to allow assisted suicide end of life issues are particularly relevant. Wyatt noted the rationale for euthanasia originally was to escape pain, then it became a freedom of choice issue and now is promoted to avoid becoming dependant: not becoming a burden is made out to be a noble duty. Language is manipulated to change implied values so, for example, “intentional killing” sounds much more user friendly when expressed as “easing her passing”.

Medical ethics can evoke a deep intuitive unease about playing God and provoke questions as to where humanity is going. Ethical reflection from the church on the evolving attitudes of society regarding life issues continues to be essential.

David Pullinger, a former director of the SRTP and now implementing digital media for the coalition government, looked at how the relationship of the state to its citizens was being transformed by the digital revolution. Digital literacy is now as important is literacy was in former times and the digitally illiterate are similarly disadvantaged. A huge area of debate concerns what data is to be private and what public. This is a cultural and social decision as shown by the different laws on privacy and transparency across Europe. For example in Norway the amount of income that each citizen declares in their tax return is in the public domain but at the other end of the scale the names of directors of German companies is kept private by law. The relationship between the citizen and the state is unlike the relationship that citizens have with any other entity and so the state cannot model the relationship on the way, for example, a bank or supermarket interacts digitally with its customers. Technology makes new interactions between citizen and government possible including on line surveys, petitions and consultations but how much weight should be given to the information arising from the minority of the population participating in such exercises.

The day also included discussions on climate change, astronomy and the technological enhancement of the  human body as well as a presentation on the value to human life of plants.

Attendees of the day conference left with the feeling that through the project the church's engagement with society, science and technology is as strong today as it has been over the last 40 years.

Share: Email | Facebook | Twitter | Delicious
Printer Friendly Version