Ethics
Artificial Intelligence – A threat to humanity?
AI is rarely out of the headlines these days, with experts and developers all seeming to have different levels of concern about how much of a threat to human existence it poses. On the one hand there are those who view it in a totally positive light and see it helping to improve the lives…
Read MoreCapturing the language of (assisted) death
Those promoting the agenda that, in plain speaking, wants the UK to legalise doctors to be able to provide a prescription for a lethal draught with which patients can kill themselves, have a long history of shape-shifting their language. Morphing from the Voluntary Euthanasia Society to Dignity in Dying in 2006 was a smart – if…
Read MoreCoronavirus vaccines – Frequently Asked Questions
Is there any scientific possibility that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will change human DNA? No. Both these vaccines employ molecules called messenger RNA that have been synthesised in laboratories. After immunisation the molecules are designed to enter into cells within the body where they give the molecular instructions for those cells to produce the…
Read MoreLooking death in the eye – reflections of a Christian doctor
Death is an infinite mystery. There are few who can speak of it in the first person and few accounts of those who have recovered from a confirmed diagnosis of clinical death. Billy Graham said, ‘I am convinced that only when a man is prepared to die is he also prepared to live.’ My personal…
Read More‘Conversion Therapy’ – Should we ban it?
A growing international movement is calling for legal bans on any form of so-called ‘Conversion Therapy’, used to ‘convert’ homosexuals into heterosexuals. Based on untruths, half-truths and deliberately confused truths, the campaigners have so far persuaded Germany, Malta, three Canadian provinces and 50 US States to ban such therapy, while Australia, Northern Ireland and Great…
Read MoreThe Hubris of Babylon in Healthcare
Wherever you find books about both genomic editing and AI in healthcare, you will also find hubris. Hubris is the polite word used in academia to describe the arrogance and overinflated self-importance so prevalent in that world. ‘The greatest story ever told.’ ‘A new phase of evolution’ and so on. It’s all a one -way…
Read MoreFetal cells and Covid-19 vaccines: Can Thomas Aquinas help?
Ethical concerns have been raised about aborted human fetal cells being used in the creation of some Covid-19 vaccines. Should this preclude their use? Vaccines developed from fetal cells lines are not new. Pharmaceutical companies have found fetal cell lines to be perfect for growing vaccines. These fetal cell lines were originally derived in the…
Read MoreDoes God promise to protect Christians from COVID-19?
Some Christians refuse all vaccines on the basis that they are somehow not natural or that they believe God will protect them from diseases. Some argue that God determines how long we should live so we cannot ‘save’ our lives. But we do things all the time to try and reduce our risk of disease…
Read MoreSome brief Christian considerations on the COVID-19 vaccines
En français After almost a year of socio-political disruption caused by the SARS-CoV-2 RNA virus, some vaccines have received emergency approval for use in the vulnerable and general population. Some countries have received and have begun to vaccinate their people, while others are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the vaccines. Christians and Christian faith communities…
Read MoreFAQ: Coronavirus vaccines Frequently Asked Questions
There is an updated version of this article here. Is there any scientific possibility that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will change human DNA? No. Both these vaccines employ molecules called messenger RNA that have been synthesised in laboratories. After immunisation the molecules are designed to enter into cells within the body where they give…
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