RELG 340 - Science and Religion
Course Notes for Module 13
The Language of God : Appendix
- p.244 - the Hippocratic oath
- The Hippocratic Oath is an oath taken by physicians, medical students, and other healthcare practitioners, swearing to use their skills only for good. The original oath is thought to have been formulated by the Greek physician Hippocrates, who lived ca. 460 BC - ca. 370 BC. There are several forms of the oath in use today. The oath commonly used in the USA is the "Declaration of Geneva" :
I solemnly pledge to consecrate my life to the service of humanity
I will give to my teachers the respect and gratitude which is their due;
I will practice my profession with conscience and dignity;
The health and life of my patient will be my first consideration;
I will respect the secrets which are confided in me;
I will maintain by all means in my power, the honor and the noble traditions of the medical profession;
My colleagues will be my brothers
I will not permit considerations of religion, nationality, race, party politics or social standing to intervene between my duty and my patient;
I will maintain the utmost respect for human life, from the time of its conception, even under threat, I will not use my medical knowledge contrary to the laws of humanity;
I make these promises solemnly, freely and upon my honor. - p.245 - Dolly the sheep
- Dolly was a sheep born on July 5, 1996 to three mothers - the ova was taken from one ewe, DNA was taken from a second ewe, and a third ewe carried the cloned embryo to birth. Dolly only lived for 6 years (instead of the normal 12 years) and had to be euthanized because of her increasing arthritis and lung disease. An autopsy revealed that she also had lung cancer.
- p.252 - in vitro
- "in vitro" is Latin for "in the glass" - i.e. in the test-tube or the petri-dish rather than in the natural location
- p.251-252 - in vitro fertilization
- My stance is that, in the case of a couple who cannot conceive naturally, and if the present state of medical science cannot help them to conceive naturally, then it would be preferable for them to adopt children (more than one), than to go through the physical, psychological, and financial strains involved in IVF. There are thousands of abandoned, unwanted, or orphaned children already in the world - give some of them a chance rather than produce "hundreds of thousands" of frozen embryos. The "desire of a couple to have a child" may not be such "a strong moral good" if it is dictated by such possessiveness that adoption is ruled out.
- p.254 - the Raelians
- the Raelians are a UFO cult whose founder, a Frenchman who has re-named himself Ra-El, teaches that the first humans were "implanted" on earth as part of an experiment by alien scientists. They also claim to have cloned seven human babies.
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