Religion, Ethics, and Science

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Religion, Ethics, and Science

• Laurie Zoloth, Ph.D.
• Alyssa Henning, doctoral student

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What is ethics?

• Ethics deals with questions like
• What is good?
• How do you know what is good?
• How do you decide the right thing to do?
• How do you know if something is wrong?

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Ethics is not like morals

• Ethics deals with the question of what to do when
  we disagree about morals.
• One way of answering this question is to come up
  with a set of rules about what to do when this
  happens.
• The rules come from many different places
• Different sources may have different rules for
  handling moral disagreement.

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Two ways to answer these questions

• How it turns out. (Consequentialism)
• What are the promises, rules and intentions that
  you have? (Deontology)

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Why we disagree is also important

• Religion shapes our culture, and is also shaped
  by our culture.
• Religious traditions are a source of moral rules.
• Religion creates moral rules about good and evil
  acts.
• Different religions have different ideas about
  these moral rules.

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What is bioethics?

• Bioethics is a field that thinks about the
  ethical questions raised by scientific and
  medical technologies and practices.

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Bioethics started as a national conversation
about

• Genetics
• Organ transplants
• Fair treatment of people in medical research
• People who no longer want medical care and are
  dying
• Health care for everyone who needs it

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Why should bioethics care about religion?

• Many people draw upon their religion to help them
  think about difficult ethical decisions.
• Many people turn to religion to maintain hope
  during difficult times, like during illness.
• Religions have ethical traditions and frameworks
  that can inform the way we do bioethics.

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What does religion contribute to bioethics?

• Religious texts can remind us that
• The capacity for good and evil is a part of all
  science.
• Some obligations may be more important than
  scientific advances.
• Humans are not fully in control of
  nature/creation.

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What does religion contribute to bioethics?

• Religious traditions worry about justice
• Justice for the poor, vulnerable, and
  marginalized is a priority.
• Some realms of human activity are outside the
  marketplace.
• Religious traditions ask questions about being
  part of a community.

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What does religion contribute to bioethics?

• Religious people can explain what they think is
  at stake in an ethical dilemma.

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Oncofertility raises NEW questions in bioethics!

• Is doing oncofertility research a good idea?
• Is it a good act and what makes it so?
• Are there ethical problems?

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Some ethical concerns

• Can children (or their parents) understand what
  research participation entails?
• How can we avoid creating false hopewhat if
  oncofertility research doesnt work?
• Who will/should have access to this technology if
  it does work?
• What is the best use of limited healthcare
  resources?
• Do oncofertility technologies change the way we
  think about families? Is this a problem?

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Oncofertility is also part of a larger
conversation

• Oncofertility research is related to
  conversations about
• the role of technology in overcoming infertility
• how we understand mortality
• the danger of providing false hope to cancer
  patients and other research participants
• women, womens health, and medicine

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Some things to think about

• Having cancer does not mean you are sure to die.
• It could also be a life-threatening but treatable
  sickness that needs rehabilitation.
• But cancer treatment can destroy or reduce your
  fertility.

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More things to think about

• People want to be able to have genetically
  related children.
• Sometimes infertility is a medical problem with a
  medical solution.

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What do religious sources say about Oncofertility?

• NOTHING!
• Oncofertility technologies are newthey could not
  have been imagined thousands of years ago when
  scriptural traditions developed.

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Does this mean religious traditions have no
contributions to make?

• No!
• Religions often have to confront and think about
  new problems or questions that arise in order to
  stay relevant to the lives of practitioners or
  believers.
• In order to answer new questions, many religions
  use a process called casuistry, or case-based
  reasoning.
• Is there a related question that the tradition
  has already considered?

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Where do religious perspectives on bioethical
issues come from?

• Scripture
• e.g. Torah, New Testament, Quran
• Other religious texts
• e.g. Talmud, Hadith
• Religious Philosophers and Theologians
• e.g. Maimonides, Thomas Aquinas
• Official Denominational Statements
• Liturgy (prayers)
• Religious practitioners and believers

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Religion in America

• America has many religions. These different
  religions have things in common, but they are
  also distinct.
• Each religion contains many ways of expressing
  faith, law, obligation, and authority.
• Most Americans define themselves as religious or
  spiritual.
• Many Americans attend church, synagogue, mosque,
  or temples regularly.
• Scientists are more likely to say they are
  non-believers than Americans at large.
• Most Americans indentify as Christian, but a
  growing number identify with Hindu, Muslim,
  Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Jewish or other faiths.

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Keywords for constructing religious perspectives
on ONCOFERTILITY

• Infertility
• In human beings, and in the land (e.g. famine)
• Reproduction/Procreation
• Hope
• Women
• Children
• Illness

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Activity Religion and Infertility

• Please divide into 4 groups.
• Each group will focus on one of the 4 texts from
  the handout.
• What does your groups text have to say about how
  the Bible understands infertility?
• How can we use this text to think about whether
  or not to pursue oncofertility research?
• Each group will present its text to the entire
  class.
• Do any of the texts conflict with one another?
  Do they complement each other?
• What are the benefits of looking at all 4 texts
  instead of just 1?