Monday, November 28, 2011

"They never stop to ask if they should do something"

Those are the words of Michael Crichton expressed through the character of Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park.  Malcolm is explaining his objection to the creation of dinosaurs by Hammond's scientists by insisting that the only type of questions science can answer are whether or not something is possible; never whether or not something is right.  One of the themes throughout Michael Crichton's writings is that science is a tool like any other.  When put in the hands of people with evil intention, it can cause grave consequences.  In this he is most correct.  The same could be said of politics, economics, psychology, and a host of other disciplines.  The thing that sets science apart is that in the modern world it can clearly lead humanity down paths that endanger us all without 99% of the world even knowing it.  Our latent fear of science, as evidenced in countless science fiction novels, comics, and movies comes to life more and more as new breakthroughs are announced on a regular basis.
I wrote recently that we need both faith and science.  The complete lack of morality within the scientific process is another reason why.  The Christian needs to utilize both science and faith, and the scientist certainly needs to let faith enlighten his/her decisions as well.  Faith certainly can enlighten science on issues related to the sanctity of life; not only life between conception and birth, but also quality of life issues and end of life issues.  There have been recent articles explaining that a "reliable" test to determine if a child will likely have Down Syndrome is now available.  Can science really be expected to see the value in the life of that child and not simply encourage frightened parents to abort? 
Added to the mix of moral ambiguity surrounding science is the pressure that many researchers are under to make their efforts pay off financially.  Science cannot possibly make moral choices when dollar signs are the determining factor.  It may seem naive to try to contain the influence of money in the realm of scientific research, especially when other less scrupulous countries would do research that scientists of conscience balk at, but if we give up and don't even try to instill a Christian morality in the research lab and medical facility, what will prevent us from walking down the paths that the late Michael Crichton's fiction spoke of?

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