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How Did We Get Here? 25 Years of Bioethics Engagement

July 12, 2007
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The slow collapse of Judeo-Christian anthropology, the often unrecognized theme of decades of social change, has had the most profound effects in the inter-disciplinary effort that we now call "bioethics." The abject failure of Christians, who should have been most alert to what was taking place, to make serious inroads into this late 20th century phenomenon is notable and lamentable. The abortion debate both catalyzed and misinformed the church, since it suggested that this vast moral and policy question was a function of a disagreement about "when life begins." This both marshaled and misled, for the question has always been What is man? - not When is man? As 21st century emerging technologies begin to supersede the 20th century debates about the unborn with their fundamental challenges to human dignity and freedom at every level, the question of strategy has never been more important.

Keywords:
bioethics, Christianity, public policy, culture