Traditional Christian Norms and the Shaping of Public Moral Life: How Should Christians Engage in Bioethical Debate within the Public Forum?

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Notes

1. Consider: “Atticus. —In your opinion, then, it is not in the edict of the magistrate, as the majority of our modern lawyers pretend, nor in the rules of the Twelve Tables of our Statutes, as the ancient Romans maintained, but in the sublimest doctrines of philosophy, we must seek the true source and obligation of jurisprudence.

Marcus.— … But the subject of our present discussion soars far higher, and comprehends the universal principles of equity and law. In such a discussion therefore on the great moral law of nature, the practice of the civil law can occupy but an insignificant and subordinate station. For according to our idea, we shall have to explain the true nature of moral justice, which is congenial and correspondent with the true nature of man. We shall have to examine those principles of legislation by which all political states should be governed … ” (Cicero, Treatise On the Laws, I, 18). In this volume, Cicero (B.C. 106–43) develops an account of natural law as right reason.

2. Consider, for example, Thomas Aquinas (c. A.D. 1227–1274) ST II, 2, Q 94; or the work of Francisco de Victoria (c. A.D. 1480–1546).

3. See, for example, School District of Abington Township v. Edward L. Schempp et al., 374 U.S. 203; 83 S. Ct. 1560; 10 L. Ed. 2d 844; (1963) U.S. LEXIS 2611: “The issue in the instant cases was whether the ‘establishment’ clause of the First Amendment was violated by a Pennsylvania statute, or a rule of the Board of School Commissioners of Baltimore City adopted pursuant to statutory authority, requiring the reading, without comment, at the opening of each school day of verses from the Bible and the recitation of the Lord's Prayer by the students in unison, these exercises being prescribed as part of the curricular activities of students who are required by law to attend school, and held in the school buildings under the supervision and participation of teachers employed in those schools.” See also William J. Murray et al. v. John N. Curlett et al., 374 U.S. 203, 10 L ed. 2d 844, 83 S Ct 1560 (1963).

4. Consider: “Observations on the rejection of physician-assisted suicide: A Roman Catholic perspective” (Bresnahan, 1995); “Suffering and the sovereignty of God: One evangelical's perspective on doctor-assisted suicide” (Amundsen, 1995); “Ethical issues in managed care: A Catholic Christian perspective” (Pellegrino, 1997); “Relational responsibility, and not only stewardship: A Roman Catholic view on voluntary euthanasia for dying and non-dying patients (Schotsmans, 2003); “Medical killing—an evangelical perspective” (Schirrmacher, 2003); “Disease, suffering, and sin: One Anglican's perspective” (Foster, 2006); “Bio-ethics: Some challenges from a liberation perspective” (Lebacqz, 1998); “‘Embodiment’ and moral critique: A Christian social perspective” (Cahill, 1998).

5. There continues to exist the attempt to assert secular authority over bioethical professional training and competency assessment. See, for example, the American Society for Bioethics and the Humanities publication Core Competencies for Health Care Ethics Consultation (1996), which itemized areas of competence, skills, and desirable personal traits for bioethics consultation.