Spiritual Geographies: Biotechnology, Nature and Judeo-Christian Ethics in New Zealand

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Spiritual Geographies Biotechnology, Nature and
Judeo-Christian Ethics in New Zealand

• Fiona J. Coyle
• John R. Fairweather
• AERU, Lincoln University
• Monday 2nd February 2004

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Introduction

• New Zealand impacted by the biotechnological
  revolution.
• Imagination stirred by issues such as
  toad-potatoes, xenotransplantation, cloned
  sheep, Corngate.

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Introduction

• A reaction to insertion of human genes into cows
  the creation of human-animal hybrids.
• Boundary breach stirs up mixed emotions.
• Focus groups suggest spiritual crisis provoked by
  hybrids.
• Biotechnology can remake the world unsettles
  what it is to be human and understandings of
  God-given place in the world.

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Focus

• Examine responses of some participants
  reluctance to discuss spirituality.
• Embarrassed silence, or Christian, Maori and
  atheists spoke.
• Comments hidden behind Nature.
• Issues around creation, nature and human being
  foundation to negotiate chaos of scientific
  progress.

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CONTEXT Life according to Christianity
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God creates the natural environment
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A male God, benevolent and good
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who was able to create life from no-thing.
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A God with full, prescient knowledge
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In contrast, humans were created by God
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A special place in nature
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Enter biotechnology
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Humans are made in the image of God

• Provides the basis for human dignity not be be
  perverted.
• I weighed up the pros and cons for most of those
  except for the stem cells because I believe we
  are all made in the image of God and we shouldnt
  destroy it.
• Female, Wellington
• The Bible actually says that God has made man in
  his own image and we have to consider that avenue
  to We are starting to really play with fire.
• Male, Waimate

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Playing with fire?

• GE sees humans as a series of manipulable
  material processes denies human dignity
  (Fukuyama, 200289).
• Abolition of man an extreme violation of Gods
  will.
• Virilio (Crepuscular Dawn158) sees humans a the
  end of the world.

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Thus

• There is no going beyond humanitythey conclude
  itthey are at once the perfection, the ones who
  bring an end, who take responsibility whence the
  incarnation of Christ. At the same time,
  however, humanity is what ends it (CD158).
• Humans are perfect/the end of the world

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Humans pervert the image of the human form
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• Male 1 That guy trying to find God? I gather
  thats what hes trying to do anyway. Hes doing
  it out of a test tube.
• Female Hes trying to copy God
• Male 2 I dont think its trying to copy God
  that is the problem. Its trying to BE God. God
  does something knowing whats happening, we do it
  and its like for example, a little boy watches
  his Dad shaving that looks fun, I can do that,
  grabs the razor, having a wee shave not knowing
  exactly what hes doing. Dad knows he has to put
  shaving foam on and knows you have to pull in a
  certain direction.
• Focus Group, Auckland (comments on cloning
  cartoon)

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Creators vs. engineers

• Are we trying to become God?
• The deification of the scientist, the demi-urgic
  impulse (Virilio, CD117).
• Maybe these people who are scientists try to
  create or recreate something. They are trying to
  be God. And why should you be playing around
  with it.
• Male, Dunedin

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Divine creation vs. human creation

• Male 1 Well were not playing God. Were not
  creating things. All were doing is modifying,
  as weve done from the moment we got our hands on
  our first animal we started modifying it. We
  started
• Male 2 Crossbreeding
• Male 1 Training. Well sorry, domesticating it.
  Then we started crossing it with another one that
  was a bit better, or a different type that was a
  bit better.
• Male 3 Well were creating something new.
• Male 1 No, were not creating a damn thing. All
  were doing is cross breeding.
• Focus Group, Waimate

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An interpretation

• Speaker 1 (atheist) Humans merely modifying
  whats there. We cannot create genes or life
  itself (something out of no-thing).
• Man is more definitely an engineer (Virilio,
  Art of the Motor71).
• Speaker 3 (Christian) We create something new
  with gene manipulation.

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A semantic difference

• Rests on the definition of the creative act and
  our right to partake in it.
• Does biotechnology create something new, or does
  it merely changing the materials that already
  exist?
• Is it morally right to steal this creative power
  from God?

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Copy God, make mistakes

• We are not all-seeing.
• We intrude into forbidden territory boundaries
  deny access.
• Humankind will become product of creators who are
  not the initial cause of our existence (Virilio,
  CD117).
• Creators are Monsanto, creations are monsters.

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Can we create in ignorance?

• Just because we dont understand something
  doesnt mean its wrong or badI think that were
  going into something as individuals that we dont
  necessarily understand and therefore feel
  uncomfortable about it. But that doesnt make it
  wrong in my mind.
• Male, Waimate
• Ignorance ?EVIL

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Natural to play with the stuff of life?

• I could believe in God and say well God put us
  on this earth, God created us and God gave us
  minds, and those minds are starting to play with
  genetic material. As his people claim him to be
  then playing with GE stuff is something hes
  brought for us to do.
• Male, Dunedin
• Humans designed with curiosity and intelligence.
• Experimentation is thus the Will of God.

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Humans as stewards?

• Humans given dominion over the Earth.
• God created everything on the earth but God
  created humans with a special ability but with
  that special ability came responsibilities that
  we had to look after things, recognise that
  position of power so that we can help that.
  Respecting what nature is - guardians of nature,
  stewardship of nature - weve also got the
  responsibility not to and that goes over that.
• Male, Auckland

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• But then if we believe God created us, were
  part of the natural order. We are responsible.
  God made us responsible. He didnt make dogs or
  the trees, he made us responsible to dominate but
  also to keep the planet and everything on it.
• Female, Wellington
• Humans as guardians of planet, Gods creation.
• Pertinent to New Zealand, Gods Own Country
  (Thomas Bracken).

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Experimentation beyond our role

• Unnatural acts against human nature.
• I think the whole thing here - this
  biotechnology - this is not just taking the same
  plant/family and modifying it slightly or
  something simple like that. This is going this
  is blending animals with plants or humans with
  plants or humans with animals. This is really
  changing the face of the earth as we know it.
• Male, Waimate
• Forewarns of the despoiling of Eden, Gods Own
  Country.

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Consequences?

• Fear of monstrosities meddling produces
  reproductive mutants.
• Side-effects will impact on future generations.
• I think its the idea that Frankenstein was a
  man-made man and saying you cant play God
  because look at what you create. Its a
  synthetic muffled all scientists and monsters.
• Male, Dunedin

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Original Sin

• In response to toad-potatoes.
• The bible also says, the sins of the forefathers
  will visit the third and fourth generations, and
  it could be the same thing that happens with what
  were doing with these genes.
• Male, Waimate

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Original Sin the sin that Adam committed by
eating an apple from the Tree of Knowledge.
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As Adams descendants, we will all pay

• As humans we are eternally doomed.
• Biotechnology is wrong because Sin is in the
  world (female, Wellington).
• No solution to this, our descendants will pay.

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Virilio suggests

• One cannot improve humans by genetic meanshence
  all this research, in my opinion, can only lead
  to a catastrophe of science itself (CD159).

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We abolish perfect humanity by creating
monsters.
But without humanity there can be no
technoscience.
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Conclusions

1. A minority opinion others thought biblical
   rules were outdated and thwarted human evolution.
2. For some, spiritual beliefs stronger than
   scientific training.

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• The Indian mythology says that even if the baby
  is not born, when it is developing in your body,
  it can understand and it can hear you. So its
  like exploiting a life, which has not even seen
  the world.
• Asian female scientist, Auckland (embryonic stem
  cells)
• If you dont have limits to how far you can go,
  you run the risk of scientists becoming demigods
  in terms of controlling future generationsWell
  no, its not natural. Pigs hearts are not
  supposed to be transplanted into humans. But I
  know your body will naturally reject them. I
  mean they are so drugged but I mean you cant
  just pop one in and it will function fine. Its
  not natural.
• Female scientist, Dunedin

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Conclusions

• Spiritual values embedded in everyday life and
  practices.
• Christian heritage entrenched in Western concepts
  of Nature (Wenz, 1996).
• Sometimes emerged as overt values, sometimes
  masked as feelings toward Nature.
• Is Nature becoming a substitute for formal
  religion?

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Individual spiritual views provide people with
moral anchors from which to determine
appropriate ethical practices towards human and
non-human nature.