CHRISTIAN BIOETHICS AND THE PUBLIC FORUM: WHY CHRISTIANS SHOULD ACTIVELY ENGAGE IN PUBLIC MORAL DEBATE

The dominant cultural and bioethical ethos is morally pluralistic and post-Christian. This ethos embodies an outlook celebrating cultural and religious diversity, mutual respect, and toleration as basic virtues. Here mutual respect and toleration are not appreciated simply as the forgoing of forcible conversion, but rather as requiring an affirmation of other religions and secular moral viewpoints as equally true. This social ethos seeks bioethical debate to be framed through a public rationality that is fully secular and open to all; it thereby seeks to eliminate traditional Christian moral claims and spiritual understandings from public moral life. Traditional Christians are urged to quarantine their deepest commitments, to express their moral and spiritual views as just one perspective among many. Yet, this background moral culture affirms practices that traditional Christians know to be profoundly sinful. How should Christians make ethical and bioethical claims in the public forum? This paper argues that authentic Christianity ought to stand over against the general secular culture of our time. Traditional Christians possess special understanding of moral and bioethical truth through correct faith in and right worship of God. Traditional Christianity alone accurately communicates the why and wherefore of existence, appropriately evaluating and guiding technological, social and moral choice, including appropriate policy on such issues as abortion and human embryo research. Christians, therefore, have a serious obligation to make traditional Christian bioethical claims and arguments within the public forum, and thereby both to shape modern culture as well as to call all persons to conversion and repentance.