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The Myth of Secular Neutrality: Unbiased Bioethics

July 15, 2005
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The media spotlight on the Terri Schiavo case brought the world’s attention to important matters such as the use of advance directives and appropriate legal advocacy for the defenseless. It also made it apparent that, in the public square, the myth of neutrality is not regarded as a myth but as reality. Spokesmen for the secular point of view were heard frequently touting their position as the objective position in contrast to those of their religious counterparts. Though belief in the possibility of neutrality is not new, it continues to escape scrutiny. It seeks to discredit certain views by considering not the content of any argument put forth, but rather by attacking the religious views of the person making the argument. Everyone who enters the public square does so with a set of presuppositions guiding their moral and ethical analyses. Contending for any position depends upon this framework in that it is through one’s presuppositions that all facts are interpreted. Secularism can have no claim to unbiased views on bioethical matters because secularists, too, begin with a worldview of their own.

Keywords:
secularism, neutrality, bioethics