A God given position in creation

Sunday night is a special time for some of us. This is when Bones comes on TV at 8:30ish to amaze us by revealing the bad people who think they can get away with their dastardly crimes. In real life, Emily Deschanel also tries to do her bit to make the world a better place. Last month, she wrote an important letter to the National Institutes of Health in the United States deploring their transfer of 14 chimpanzees to a laboratory where they would probably meet with a nasty end (http://www.looktothestars.org/news/5870-emily-deschanel-stands-up-for-chimpanzees).

Is animal testing ethical and is it ever justified? Even popular secular (and often controversial) philosopher Dr Peter Singer thinks that the practice is sometimes permissible. If experiments conducted on a small number of animals is of benefit to thousands of people, then it is justified. He does give us some food for thought. Firstly, Dr Singer reminds us that causing unnecessary suffering to any living creature is morally wrong. He is a bit extreme in also claiming that eating meat should be considered morally wrong as the pleasure one may attain by eating say a medium rare fillet, does not justify the harm it would cause to the steak donor. Secondly, Dr Singer would say that all animals have as much right to live as humans (after all, he would argue we are just animals too). In that light, it would be just as justifiable to conduct experiments on people with irreversible brain damage instead of animals (http://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/20061203.htm).

Dr Singer of course has many other interesting ideas some of which only make sense if one discounts the existence of God. As followers of Christ, we would have to disagree with many of his conclusions as they disregard the special value and position which God has bestowed on all humanity. The Bible teaches that all people are made in the image of God and therefore have a special place and purpose in creation (Genesis 1:26-28, Psalm 8:4-6, Revelation 21:3). All people therefore deserve dignity and respect and cannot be marginalised on the basis of physical ability, age or even for the sake of utility.

Considerations concerning Carbon Tax

To carbon tax or not to carbon tax, that is the question. Anyone tuning into parliament time this week would have heard all sorts of views on the issue. And all sorts of accusations being hurled across the floor. In any case, it looks like climate change is happening and we should do something about it. Is carbon tax the way to go? Well, a climatologist and/or economist may be more qualified than a theologian to decide if this is the right way to go but the Bible has a few things to say on the subject.

Firstly, God did command us to look after the world (Genesis 1:28, 2:15). Have we done a good enough job to be able to look at future generations in the eye and say, “We did our best.”? Is there anything we can do to reduce our carbon footprint? Could we turn the air conditioning down? Walk/cycle instead of drive? Buying local instead of imports? We’re not saying here that we should all forsake the luxuries of the modern world and live as hermits, but that we be mindful of what resources we could be squandering. For those who want to know more, the Rule of St Benedict (which has been around for about 1500 years) has some interesting things to say about frugality (and other things too).

Secondly, will the carbon tax push the poor further into the margins of society? Will this mean mum and dad will have to take up more jobs to pay off that mortgage resulting in kids effectively being raised by the values of the idiot box? Or no heating in winter because of the electricity bill (how positively Dickensian!)? Now we are not saying here that we shouldn’t be paying more to protect the environment, in fact we should all do what we can. But it should not be at the cost of the poor. As Christians, we should do our best to protect the planet, but it is just as important (if not more) to consider the needs of the widows, orphans, and the marginalized among us (Deuteronomy 24:17, Jeremiah 7:5-7, James 1:27).

Prerequisites for democracy

A wave of reform seems to be sweeping through the Middle East right now. From Tunisia and Libya in North Africa to Yemen and Bahrain in the Arabian Peninsular, citizens are agitating for change. What is interesting is that while in principle, democracy is seen as a good thing by most Western countries, it could very well be that the next elected leader will be a dictator who will overstay his or her welcome again.

For years, the West has attempted to preach the good news of democracy to developing countries by aid, education, diplomacy and/or coercion by force or guile. During the golden age of communism (if there was such a thing), it was common knowledge that capitalist nations waged a war by proxy against the communist bloc by pumping in arms and military training (and vice versa) to various strategic countries (usually where there was oil or other valuable resources) in an attempt to promote their particular political outlook.

What is apparent though is that at least two conditions need to be met before democracy can really take off. Firstly, the majority of the population must truly believe that all people are equal. Democracy cannot work when there is a belief that those of one particular race or religion are superior to those who are not. In many countries, particular sections of society which may be seen as second class citizens because of their sex, race or religion. Unless we are all convinced that all people are truly equal, with equal rights and equal opportunities, democracy cannot work. Secondly, democracy cannot work unless the nation has a strong ethical backbone. It’s sometimes funny (in a sad way) when we read of leaders bribing community leaders (or voters even) to support their leadership despite their total lack of ability or principles.

What many democracy promoters seem to fail to recognise is that most countries where democracy has mostly succeeded are countries which have a strong Christian tradition. This could be because the Bible affirms the equality of all people and the importance of absolutes in ethics (eg. Proverbs 16:19).