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The Society, Religion and Technology Project
A UNIQUE EXPERIMENT
Church of Scotland
Today's church .... looking at Tomorrow's technology
What is the SRT Project?
The Society, Religion and Technology Project (SRT) is unique project of the Church of Scotland set up in 1970 to examine the impact of technology on society. It focuses on issues of importance to technologists, policy makers, researchers and the public. Over the years it has contributed significant work to debates in many areas of technology including :
SRT affirms the idea that technology is a basic aspect of being human, but its practice must be shaped within a framework of ethical values and social factors. Technology is not value free. It is developed through choices which imply value judgements. These reflect the values of its society and in turn technology reshapes society. The SRT Project therefore seeks to promote values which would encourage the development of responsible technology in relation to both humanity and God's creation, as a practical outworking of Christian principles.
Technology is one of the greatest shaping forces of society and culture. It changes not only the practicalities of living but also the way we see life, altering our perceptions in countless ways. Compared with a century ago, we have very different expectations of health and life expectancy; how, when and with whom we reproduce; what leisure and creativity mean; our mobility; how we communicate and how rapidly; what we expect to know about the world and its events. It has profoundly changed the way we use time, the rhythms that drive individuals and organisations. Biotechnology challenges the norms about how we regard plants, animals and even our own bodies. It prompts us to ask what the very forces of nature are for, and what ethical limits there are to our seemingly boundless technical skills.
The deeper and more complex the forces we have uncovered in atoms, genes and cells, or in microchips and nanotechnology, so the more far reaching are the consequences when we manipulate and reshape them to our own ends. SRT's founders in 1970 saw an urgent need for our technical advances to matched by ethical wisdom about the purposes for which we should - or should not - use these immense powers of change. SRT has pioneered discussion about issues which have only in the last ten years emerged into wider social debate. Much of the House of Lords seminal report in 2000 "Science and Society" had been prefigured in an SRT paper to the Government in 1992. Living in God's universe is governed by strong forces. Where do we find the moral and spiritual strength to apply them to purposes that build up human life instead of ones that, in the end, weaken and diminish it?
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What is so Unique about the SRT Project?
SRT's first emphasis is less on church activities than on people and debates in society. SRT is a work of mission. Its vision is to bring a Christian influence to the nature and direction of technology. The church is grounded in its rich history but is also about opening up new possibilities. Christianity is not a 'private' religion for its adherents but it has relevance to every part of life and all of society, including technology. This is why this unique experiment was initiated in 1970.
The SRT Project arose out of a speech in 1968 by Dr Willie Robertson then Director of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, in Glasgow, to the Scottish Churches' Industrial Mission. He said there was a lack of a theology for our technological society. He found it difficult to believe that the Church was serious about its concern in society, unless it put some funding towards thinking about technology. The Church and Industry Committee and the Secretary of the Church of Scotland's Home Board, Rev. Dr Horace Walker, responded by creating a post for a scientist to work at bridging this gap. SRT began.
What makes the Project different from other church agencies is its ongoing commitment to examine technology by building relationships and networks with those working in the field, both its proponents and its critics. This continuing engagement provides a platform for informed reflection which ad hoc groups convened to examine a single issue often find difficult. By schooling itself in emerging issues, SRT's has been able to be pro-active and spot key questions, engaging influential formers of policy and opinion during the formative period when a technology is forming and its crucial decisions are made.
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SRT's Working Group Studies
SRT's most characteristic method of work lies its multidisciplinary expert working groups. Since the 1970's these have been the backbone of its work, engaging those working in key areas of technology with specialists in the wider ethical, social and theological implications. Often these groups provide a first opportunity for technologists to have broad ranging discussion of their field of activity. SRT believes in the importance of providing space for decisions to be made together and tackled collectively, with input from many different sectors. A unique blend of technical know-how, ethical and theological reflection and social insights have led to a series of acclaimed studies.
Our first report "Scotland in Turmoil" was the result of group work over a long period, and interviewing key players on the question of oil in Scotland, the UK and abroad. The report and its successor "Scottish Oil Shakedown" were major contributions to national thinking on the wider impact of North Sea Oil and Gas. These helped put the SRT Project on the policy making map in the early 1970's.
From the outset, the relationship between technology and environment has been a major component of SRT's work. As environmental awareness emerged during the 1970's, SRT began a prominent role in ethical evaluation of energy policy, renewable sources and nuclear power which has continued ever since. Concerns over resources led to studies on food supply and agriculture, and the effect of technology on work and employment, themes to which the Project has kept returning.
Bringing diverse interests and expertise together is a hallmark of SRT's approach. A working group on land use in Scotland drew members from the Nature Conservancy, National Farmers Union, Friends of the Earth, professors of ecology, a theologian and others. If our way of understanding an issue like the relationship between humanity and the environment becomes comprehensive rather than confrontational, and far-sighted instead of a short term focus, the possibility of creative solutions increases. "While the Earth Endures", published by SRT in 1986 made an important contribution at a time of major decisions about land use, the future of agriculture, the rural community and the inheritance we leave to our children. It prefigured later discussions on land reform in the Scottish Parliament. The study stimulated important new theological thinking on environmental issues, modifying the concept of stewardship with relational models.
As global warming became a serious issue in the late 1980's, SRT commissioned a series of essays on technical and ethical implications for energy, transport and lifestyle, published as "With Scorching Heat and Drought?" SRT's long experience on energy issues led to ongoing work with European church working groups and World Council of Churches. An expert group on information technology also met to examine the challenges to human behaviour and society from the explosion in computer use and what would become the Internet.
In 1993, a landmark decision was made to begin a working group study on non-human biotechnology. This began while the issues had barely reached public attention, and was completed in 1998 in the media circus of Dolly the cloned sheep and the furore over genetically modified food. Once again, SRT had identified an emerging issue and brought together some of the key figures to thrash out the major questions from different disciplines and often disagreeing positions. Professor Ian Wilmut, the head of the team which produced Dolly, was a member of the group, along with leading experts in crop genetics, animal welfare, risk regulation, sociology, media and public perception and environmental and theological ethics.
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A Balance of Laying Foundations and Outreach
SRT believes such careful groundwork is necessary to establish a proper understanding of complex issues like GM food, risk, modified animals and patenting. The resulting book "Engineering Genesis" was published by Earthscan in November 1998 just as the GM food crisis erupted. It was updated and reprinted a year later. It has been widely acclaimed as the most balanced study available on this controversial issue, a major contribution to thinking and the public debate.
This combination of in-depth knowledge on key technological developments, engagement with different stakeholders, and perceptive insights into the ethical and social implications is the hallmark of SRT's approach. The foundations laid enable it to contribute to debate and policy making at many levels, often in places closed to other groups. Because SRT is not a campaigning organisation, but talks with all sides, it can play an 'honest broker' role in debate on contentious issues like GM food. It argues strongly for the need for public participation on biotechnology. It has developed close links with St. George's House Windsor Castle in a series of high level consultations on genetics and risk, science and society, environment and theology.
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Balancing Today's and Tomorrow's World
SRT's close involvement with the research community over cloning and stem cells has put it increasingly to the fore in the news media. It is regularly called upon for comment and input to TV and radio debates, and articles in the press, especially on cloning and genetics. In a globalised and politicised world SRT can often give an informed, non-partisan view on issues where hype and exaggeration are common currency. But such work is demanding and apt to make work driven by external events. SRT's primary way of operation remains focused on long-term and in-depth study through its working groups. It is only
on this base that it earns the right to speak on more immediate issues.
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SRT's Directors
Appointing a technologist to work full-time for the church has opened unique possibilities for engagement with the scientific community and with movers and shakers in policy and debate. With limited resources, areas of study must be carefully chosen, reflecting available expertise, and current demands from the church and public. One of SRT's great strengths is in the technological experience of the Director. Since 1970 there have been six, each bringing a particular background and specialism, and each initiating new areas of study.
The first was Dr John Francis, a nuclear physicist concerned with energy and its use. He set up many of SRT's ways of working and study groups on a wide variety of issues before narrowing the focus to North Sea oil and gas and the emerging environmental issues of the early 1970's. The second Director was Dr Colin Pritchard, a chemical engineer who initiated work on agriculture and the use and abuse of fertilisers, in Scotland and in the Third World. He developed further SRT's continuing emphasis on energy and environmental issues.
Iain Macdonald undertook studies in politically sensitive areas like defence and food supply. He also set up the world's first programme of energy efficiency and conservation in churches, now run by the Kirk's General Trustees. Over £500,000 is being saved annually as a result of this programme, a tribute to Iain's memory, after his death in 1997.
Sociologist Dr Howard Davis brought expertise in how technology is used and affects organisations. As well as the land use study he looked at how theories about defence become based more on the weaponry available than policy. "Ethics and Defence" received critical acclaim.
Dr David Pullinger came in 1985 from a background of designing large national information systems. He focused on the computerisation of society, and continuing studies on defence. He played a key role in responses to global warming and other environmental concerns.
The present Director Dr Donald Bruce came in 1992 from chemistry research and safety regulation in nuclear energy and energy policy. Energy and environment have figured in his work, but his major focus has been in genetic engineering, cloning, patenting and risk, a theological study on the limits of technology, and giving SRT a high profile in the widening debate over the role of technology in society.
Networking and Collaborating
Increasingly the churches have found the value and importance in working together on complex technological and environmental issues. Duplication can be avoided and wider insights gained. The Project has always had a strong ecumenical emphasis. It works with Action for Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS), and the Environmental Issues Network of the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. SRT was instrumental in setting up Eco-Congregation Programme in Scotland for local churches to take practical care for the environment. SRT also works with organisations such as the John Ray Initiative and A Rocha.
SRT's work is increasingly international. From the start it collaborated with the World Council of Churches, and plays a key role in working groups of the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches, relating to European institutions and policy makers on bioethics and the environment. SRT helped found ECEN, the European Christian Environmental Network, in 1998 and runs its website. SRT enjoys links with sister church institutes in Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, with other European and now also North American churches, as the transatlantic dimension on issues of global warming, GM food, cloning and stem cells proves increasingly vital.
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Publications and Outreach
SRT's publications are very varied. Many are the result of working parties, or have been written by the Director. Others are specially commissioned including "Fair Shares" a study of social welfare by Tony Walter, and "Technology at the Crossroads", the history of the SRT Project, written by noted Scottish author Ron Ferguson. Books like "Engineering Genesis" and "While the Earth Endures" are aimed at a broad public, to take the reader further than information and debate presented from the mass media. Others like 'Seeing Scotland from the Summit' were written to inform and stimulate church members on issues. Increasingly, SRT has found the value of single page A4 information sheets on issues such as cloning, stem cells, GM food, animals, environment and much else. Since 1993 the SRT Bulletin has been keeping church ministers and a wide circulation list up to date on the Project's activities and topical issues. SRT has a very extensive website of articles and information, much used by the education sector, churches, the media and researchers.
Other publications arise in the professional sector, through academic journals, conferences and magazine articles. The present Director has written papers on GM risk and values for the Society of Risk Analysis and on the precautionary principle and on biotechnology ethics for the European Society for Agriculture and Food Ethics. Arising from its working group on GM food issues, SRT has represented European perspectives in a series of ethical discussions with the US research community and its biotechnology industry, and was asked to give an ethical vision for biotechnology at the 2001 World Biosciences Forum
SRT disseminates its work in many other ways: through lectures and workshops, in talks to local churches and organisations as diverse as the Saltire Society and the Humanist Association, in newspapers, radio and TV, lecturing in universities, in submissions to Government committees and European institutions. It puts on annual lectures and debates at the Edinburgh Science Festival, and has debated cloning with Richard Dawkins at the Oxford Union. Naturally, SRT's work addresses the age-old God and Science debate, and it has been invited by many schools in Scotland to explore the issues with students. SRT engages on science and society issues with the British Association and the Wellcome Trust. It was ethical advisor for the latter's Y-Touring company play on cloning and stem cells "Learning to Love the Grey".
Engaging with Individuals and Organisations
As well as public discussion SRT has stressed the need for scientists to understand the public and develop their own ability to tackle the ethical implications of their work. Many find themselves in situations where it is inappropriate to discuss their doubts, or to share their personal hopes and fears in the context of their work. Even private conversation can be extremely valuable to the individuals and organisations. Other than in conflict, many organisations do not have the opportunity or the tools to relate to the issues they are facing. The SRT Project has worked with a number of Scottish and other organisations offering ethical advice and a forum for frank discussion. Sometimes many implicit assumptions have to be unravelled before ethical concerns are taken seriously. It provides external evaluation on animal research committees, challenging researchers with ethical issues and wider public concerns, leading to some significant changes.
Why does the Church Fund the SRT Project?
SRT is a project whose time has come. Questions that the prophetic early leaders of the Project could see coming in 1970, and set up the project to address, have now become mainstream issues in civil society, of widespread public awareness and concern. Unprecedented opportunities have opened up for SRT's work. The step of faith taken over 30 years ago, and reaffirmed by the Church of Scotland several times since, has borne much fruit. This was recognised by winning the 1999 UK Templeton Award in recognition of its work "exploring the frontiers between faith and technology". Many in the churches both at home and abroad have been encouraged by the public profile and relevant engagement which SRT has developed in biotechnology.
Technology has become one of the key fields of apologetic debate raising deep questions about the nature of humanity, nature and life itself which are at root profoundly theological. In a post-modern world open questions are being asked about the values with which issues like cloning, genetic modification and energy choices should be made. The churches have an important role to play, drawing from the wealth of centuries of Christian reflection and understanding, in today's issues.
Traditionally Christianity has been quick to make use of technology, whether in building the great Gothic cathedrals or the printing press. Now the Internet has opened the audience to millions of people worldwide, often to teenagers and students who are far from normal church circles. SRT's own website has had a substantial impact as a resource, with callers from all over the world coming to browse its pages on issues like cloning and GM food, asking searching questions.
SRT's role in public is made possible in part because of the important part the Church of Scotland plays in the national life of Scotland, and its belief in engagement on the issues of the day with sectors of industry, media, health, environment, education and government. By 'being there' in the public arena on technology SRT has in turn made the Church of Scotland's name known and respected far and wide.
The Kirk has given the project a theological home, also in a two way relationship. SRT draws from the wider insights of the church and feeds back its own work in many ways. It reports annually to the General Assembly and has close contact with committees concerned with affairs of the nation, social responsibility, parish education, the industrial chaplains and Scottish ecumenical bodies. SRT also brings to the attention of church leaders, theologians and parish ministers, the major directions of technical development for comment and debate. The SRT Bulletin, its information sheets, and the collection of its work over 30 years provide important resources for students, ministers and committees. SRT also offers advice to congregations on local issues ranging from mobile phone masts to waste incinerators.
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SRT Trust and SRT Associates
The SRT Project is primarily funded by the Church of Scotland with welcome assistance from other Scottish churches, strengthening its ecumenical base. In addition it receives support from the SRT Trust, set up in October 1998 to assist the Project to meet ongoing expenses, but also to raise additional support to expand the work programme through contract work, funds and grants. There is also a growing network of SRT Associates, enabling people to be kept in closer touch with the Project's work, and to contribute their advice and skills.
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History and the Future
Since 1992 the Project has been located in a fifteenth century garret at the top of John Knox's House in Edinburgh's Royal Mile. Here the Church's mission to the world of technology rubs shoulders with its Arts initiative, the Netherbow Arts Centre. The juxtaposition of these two works in the heart of Scotland's capital, close to the new Scottish Parliament symbolises the church's commitment to the future of society as well as its history, to arts both creative and mechanical.
In the past 5 years SRT's work has expanded far beyond the capacity of a single Director and administrative support. In 2002, a new chapter will begin with the appointment of an Assistant SRT Director for 3 year period, especially to carry forward SRT's environmental work. We look forward eagerly to reaching out in the 21st. century to show that the Christian gospel is relevant to all of life, no less than Scotland's reformer four centuries before.
Society, Religion and Technology Project
Church of Scotland
John Knox House
45 High Street
EDINBURGH EH1 1SR
Scotland
tel: 0131-240 2250 fax: 0131-240 2239
email: srtp@srtp.org.uk
http://www.srtp.org.uk
Uniqexp5.lwp, Third revision, 9 January 2002
© SRT Project 2002
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