Evangelical Bioethics and the Web

General Bioethics — By on March 17, 2007 at 1:39 am

No matter how many times a blogger trashes the press–and I’ve done more than my share of MSM bashing–they are always excited to see the URL of their blog printed in a national newspaper. True, in the past I’ve said that newspaper coverage was overrated. But that was when I was mentioned in The New York Times. Being the subject of an article in The Washington Post is different: It’s a paper that people actually read.
The article by religion reporter Michelle Boorstein is titled “Evangelical Bioethics and the Web.” Although the parts about me will be of interest to no one, I’m excited to see the subject of evangelical bioethics receiving some attention. In the unlikely event that that someone actually follows the link in the article back to this blog, I thought I should highlight some of the subjects mentioned.
The excepted quote in “A Blogger’s Opinion” section is taken from Being a Person: Why Personhood is Not Enough. The opening quotes can be found in my recent post What Evangelicals Owe Catholics: An Appreciation.
Other bioethics related posts that may be of interest include:

Both Matthew Eppinette, my good friend and former boss from The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, and Nigel Cameron, who is mentioned at the end of the article, blog at Bioethics.com. Glenn McGee, our witty secular archnemesis, blogs at Bioethics.net.
One of the reasons I wanted to work for Family Research Council was to be near some of the great leaders, both evangelical and Catholic, in the field of bioethics. Our website contains a multitude of valuable articles on the subject.
The article also mentions “In, But Not Of: A Guide to Christian Ambition”, the excellent little book by my “blogfather” Hugh Hewitt. Hugh is one of the most magnanimous and generous men I’ve ever met and his book has become for me a vade mecum. I keep a stack of the them around so that I can put them in the hands of every serious-minded young Christian I meet.
(Although bloggers rarely have a kind word for reporters, I have to say that I’m grateful for all the hard work that Michelle Boorstein put into this article. I’ll have more to say about my new favorite journalist later this week, but first I want to hear what the religious news uber-critics at GetReligion think about the piece.)
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  • http://www.lifeethics.org/www.lifeethics.org/index.html Beverly Nuckols

    Good job, Mr. Carter! It’s a shame that more believers do not concern themselves with being “In, but not of, the world.”
    In one of my classes at Trinity International University’s Master’s of Arts in Bioethics, the instructor (new to the program and unaware of its history) repeatedly asked me “why” I am interested in public policy and bioethics advocacy. He couldn’t understand why bioethics advocacy – “instead of” – winning souls.
    It’s sort of our little imaging of the sermon at Mars Hill, or demonstrating Romans 1 to the world.
    Besides, if we are silent – or overly focused on *not* being Catholic or on *only* overturning Roe v. Wade, millions of our children die un-noticed, and we change our children of the future and their world in ways that we can’t possibly understand, or predict. Maybe for better and maybe for worse.
    Thanks for leading,
    Beverly Nuckols, MD (Almost MA Bioethics)

  • http://benedictionblogson.com Bene D

    The Washington Post piece is flattering, you’ve worked hard to get your favorite issues into public discussions and bridge gaps. Blog on!

  • Terri S

    Why would any of you think that you have the right to decide moral, religious or ethical decisions for anyone but yourselves? It is certainly not coming from what Jesus said.

  • http://www.alexchediak.com/blog Alex Chediak

    Congratulations, Joe.
    In your last post, I found your comment about “heterosexual men engaging in homosexual acts” when in prison among your most provocative contributions. It’d be helpful, I think, to see you unpack this more, along with how homosexuality does not contribute to human flourishing.
    Blessings,
    Alex

  • Kyl

    Would it be beneficial if you explained why the behavior “impedes human flourishing”? Since people often ask “how does the behavior impede human flourishing?”