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Everyone, whether they care to admit it or not, has a world view; a set of presuppositions about the nature of reality, that has profound effects on the way they think. Behind a rabid 'rights for gay whales' campaigner may be the beliefs that: God doesn't exist Death is the...
'If caring were enough, anyone could be a nurse' read a 1990's American nurse recruitment advertisement. It promoted nursing as an intellectual, science-based profession rather than a caring-based profession. The implication is that caring is no longer valued within our society. But if that really is the case, why...
1. How can a non-sentient being have value? We do not know that the fetus is 'non-sentient'. We do know that brain function, as measured by EEG is present in the fetus at about 6 weeks after conception and that responses to tactile sensation (skin tightening, bending, fist forming) can be...
Do we have a right to 'impose our morality'? We live in a pluralist culture where religious belief is seen as a private matter and the supreme virtue is tolerance. It's not surprising that when we submit to God's rule in the way we behave, we will be accused of...
We should resist the temptation to construct a pharisaical list of do's and don't's but rather look for biblical ethical principles to guide our decision making. These can be summed up in the commandments to 'love God with all our heart, soul and mind' and 'to love our neighbour as...
Following Christ involves following his commands. The law of Christ referred to in such Scriptures as John 13:34-35, 1 Corinthians 9:21 and Galatians 6:2 involves bearing one another's burdens, loving each other as he has loved us. But whereas these verses summarise beautifully the substance of Jesus' teaching, we cannot...
Earlier this century there was a broad consensus about ethical decision making in medicine. Ethical codes such as the Hippocratic Oath and its modern restatement The Declaration of Geneva (1948) were broadly accepted by secular bodies and largely consistent with the Bible. This is no longer the case. Both medicine...
Some points to make: Premarital sex leads to a higher incidence of marriage breakdown. Most first sex experiences are not consented to fully and are later regretted. The dangers: STDs, emotional hurt, unplanned pregnancy, infertility, abortion. Bible equally condemns all sex outside marriage. Genetic basis for homosexuality not proven. Substantial...
1. Aren't you condemning people to a painful, horrible death? Euthanasia is unnecessary because alternative treatments do exist. This is not to deny that there are patients presently dying in homes and hospitals who are not benefiting from advances in palliative care, either because facilities do not exist in the immediate...
Do God's commands ever conflict in such a way that it is impossible to obey one while not at the same moment disobeying another? If so then how should we act in such situations? Much has been made of moral conflicts by situation ethics writers such as Joseph Fletcher: Is...
