HUMAN DIGNITY IN THE BIOTECH CENTURY: A Christian Vision for Public Policy

This essay collection provides a worthwhile, if somewhat uneven, selection of conservative Christian thought about biotechnology and its ethical and legal implications. Colson and Cameron assemble a reliable team of contributors, weighted more towards organizational leaders and lobbyists than academics. In general, subtlety is not a strong point here. Colson characterizes therapeutic use of embryonic stem cells as "high-tech cannibalism," a practice that "will lead inevitably to the abolition of humankind and the ultimate end of Western civilization as we know it." Yet some other contributors (including Paige Comstock Cunningham, a former president of Americans United for Life) reach out to a wider audience, recognizing that on issues of cloning and genetic engineering, pro-life conservatives may find unexpected allies among pro-choice advocates and Greens, who share their suspicions of eugenics and biotech capitalism. Other highlights include David Prentice's calculations of the feasibility of "therapeutic" cloning for major diseases such as diabetes and Christopher Hook's discussion of "transhumanism," using cybernetics and nanotechnology to enhance human potential. Overall, the volume cannot quite deliver on the promise of its subtitle: there is not enough of a coherent theological framework here to constitute a Christian vision for public policy. But there are certainly some promising suggestions for Christian public advocacy. (Aug.)