One Take Regarding the Ethical Affect of Culture and Religion on Biotechnology
One Take Regarding the Ethical Affect of Culture and Religion on Biotechnology
I don't do religion. This is no put down to anyone who does follow some religious doctrine or another, that is their choice and their life. One cannot coin me as an atheist either, as I do believe that there is a cosmic fabric of some sort that holds this whole state of affairs together. I was convinced of this twice. The first time I traveled "up the tube" at the age of 21 (Manfred Mann's Earth Band, 1976), a result of consuming the wrong natural edible fungi (Iowa State University, 2020; pfaf.org, 2023), I was kicked back through the tube with a solid thunk and a reasonable impression to always make sure to know absolutely which plant to harvest. The second time, after contracting H1N1 and lying on the edge of death in the ICU, I sat on the edge of existence and was given a choice of joining the other-world or returning to the here and now. Understand please that this was a year after losing a wife of 25 years to cancer. I chose to return because I knew my new wife of just a few days needed me. So here I am, back again with a firm belief in something more that is not based on the circular logic or the frequent unfounded claims found in religions. Those ethereal experiences did not change my solid distaste for religion and religious control of the masses.
My strong non-affinity for religions was formulated at an early age. As a child I was a free spirit, not chained to any church or some ideology based on an unprovable higher authority in a book of rules on how to behave. My folks did not attend church but allowed me to form my own opinion. At 12 I tried a local small town church and quickly learned that major social ostracism backed by scowling prudish faces would occur if I did not bring something to pay off the big man. Combined with a chastisement of being sent to the basement with the little kids to "learn by hearing the stories" was just too much. Bye. Another religious faction got a hold of me and tried to convince me that the way to getting in the good graces of the big fellow was to join a gang, get beat till I blacked out waking up swinging, and become the leader of the Mau Maus until a man of wisdom came to lead me down a golden path. The title of the book they had me read, "Run Baby Run" (Cruz, 1968), probably made an impression on me too. That, and when I was invited to dinner by the preacher in his spotlessly clean house, the blinding sight sent me into trembles and all I wanted to do was get back to my yard and make a few masterful mud pies. Bye. Way too much control by others for this early rational free spirit. And so it has been since, no matter who tried and failed to "shepherd me into the flock". It simply caused cognitive dissonance with my fondness for mutton and other assorted digestive issues. Thus you now have a solid grounding in my personal frame of reference so that any preconceptions I have regarding my interpretation of our readings that follow may be forgiven and not be interpreted to cause undue feelings that I am somehow negating others "beliefs".
Edara (2017) states that "culture is described as constructively created behaviors based on collective beliefs" (as cited in Nagai, 2007) and that "religious culture is a subset of culture at large". Thus, although religion may play a small, mixed, or major part in a culture it is not culture in its entirety except for possibly hardcore, isolated, religious cults. There are a lot of additional "ideas, attitudes, values, beliefs, and philosophies of life" (Edara, 2017) that exist on multiple levels that go into the makeup of a culture.
Tai (2017) does a reasonable job of describing Eastern cultures guided by Confucianism, which is not religion, but rather philosophical and ethical reflections on life. Although identified through the nomenclature "atheist" for countries like China (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.) Confucian teachings are thoroughly infused throughout its culture and these teachings are reflected in how persons in China ethically view biotechnology in general. The predominant ethical theme expressed in Tai's (2017) paper is that the people in this country do not hold Western ethics as complete, augmenting them with additional considerations and refinement such as the inclusion of compassion in the sense of empathy toward others. Tai (2017) also speaks to Eastern culture's additional refinements of Western ethics through the teachings of Buddism, the philosophy and religion of Tao, and the religion of Hinduism. One notable cultural implication described in this paper was regarding how persons view their own identities in many Eastern countries. Essentially a person in those cultures see themselves not as an individual, per se, but as a part of an immediate family group, then part of a larger family group, then part of one or more neighborhoods, then as part of a larger national circle of persons. In this respect immediate, and sometimes larger family groupings, play a part in most decisions and ethics regarding medical treatments.
As to other ethical values imposed by religions, the authors of the paper regarding Jewish beliefs "Outer Limits of Biotechnologies: A Jewish Perspective" (Loike & Kadish, 2018) has me believing that the Jewish faith encourages the use of technology as a partnership of sorts with "God" and that anything that can make a person more godlike is ratified by Jewish faith and belief. On reading "Western and Islamic bioethics: How close is the gap?" (Chamsi-Pasha & Albar, 2013) it seemed that the authors spent their words throughout the entire paper trying to convince everyone that the Islamic and Muslim religions meet Western ethical standards. In the paper "Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research: An Intercultural Perspective", Walters (2004) gave us a good world regional view of how cultures, governments, and religions in those areas vary in view and control embryo use for research.
From my perspective it saddens me to think that religious absolutism should have an effect on science, and biotechnology in particular. I have had the occasion to sit in a pew or two and I never left convinced that rationality was the theme of the day. My biggest wonder is how people can be so hypocritical when it comes to religion and the way they actually live. It makes me think that belonging to a religion is more a matter of social standing and that most never follow "the word" but feel required to attend so as not to be burnt at the social stake. Given this I wonder more that if people do not stay true to what is presented in their good books, then who is minding the coop and how does the power the minders exert truly reflect the will and true culture of the people? Honesty in these cases seems obscured by a veil of those who wish to control, therefore who is actually calling the religious shots regarding governmental regulation in our culture and society? We know corporations condition the populace heavily based on monetary gain, especially when it comes to the direction that technology takes. Has religion in this day and age fallen victim to money changers as well? It would be interesting to see what people really believe without the conditioning shield of religion and the influence of the money handlers. We might actually see that true views actually do align strongly with empirical reasoning and that the single, most solid ethical standard actually prevails: Do on to others as you would wish others to do to you.
References
Central Intelligence Agency. (n.d.). China. The World Factbook. Retrieved on March 12, 2023, from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/china/#people-and-society
Chamsi-Pasha, H., & Albar, M. A. (2013). Western and Islamic bioethics: How close is the gap?. Avicenna journal of medicine, 3(1), 8–14. https://doi.org/10.4103/2231-0770.112788
Cruz, N. (1968). Run Baby Run. Hodder and Stoughton Religious Books. Retrieved on March 11, 2023, from https://archive.org/details/runbabyrun1968cruz
Edara, I. (2017). Religion: A Subset of Culture and an Expression of Spirituality. Advances in Anthropology, 7, 273-288. doi: 10.4236/aa.2017.74015
Iowa State University. (2020). Safe Mushroom Foraging. Retrieved on March 11, 2023, from https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/15836
Loike, J. D., & Kadish, A. (2018). Outer Limits of Biotechnologies: A Jewish Perspective. Rambam Maimonides medical journal, 9(1), e0008. https://doi.org/10.5041/RMMJ.10328
Manfred Mann's Earth Band. (1976). Blinded By The Light [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved on March 12, 2023 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzk3x3HZbJI&list=PL0T6GszDYGSnvOXTSAepndIKHqlz4fwTP
Nagai, C. (2007). Culturally Based Spiritual Phenomena: Eastern and Western Theories and Practices. Psychoanalytic Social Work, 14, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1300/J032v14n01_01
pfaf.org. (2023). Medicinal. Plants for a Future. Retrieved on March 11, 2023, from https://pfaf.org/user/medicinaluses.aspx
Tai, M. C. (2017). Proposing Asian Principles of Bioethics from Asian Perspectives. Austin Anthropology, 1(1). Retrieved on March 12, 2023, from https://austinpublishinggroup.com/austin-anthropology/fulltext/anthropology-v1-id1001.pdf
Walters, L. (2004). Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research: An Intercultural Perspective. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 14(1), 3-38. doi:10.1353/ken.2004.0019.