By Fr. Eugene Hemrick
Yeshua Institute Fellow
Confused by postmodern phenomena? Take, for example, the biological advance in the co-discovery of the structure of DNA.
We can now take an early-stage embryo and edit a child’s traits. Want a child with altered DNA that will protect against horrific Huntington’s disease or sickle cell anemia? It can be done. What was impossible before is now possible.
These breakthroughs are the tip of an iceberg filled with unimaginable possibilities. But as we know, an iceberg sunk the so-called unsinkable Titanic. How then do we avoid possible disasters?
Avoiding disasters
To begin, we must start with ourselves and our center -- the conscience that is responsible for decision-making. As free beings we have the liberty of choosing to go one way or the other. Choices also create a crisis mode. When we hear the word “crisis,” we often assume it has a negative meaning. But it actually connotes the positive meaning of a crossroads that offers us options.
Today we live in an age of unimagined crossroads creating the option of accepting scientific breakthroughs as progress or taking the road of questioning what is true progress.
In 1982 The NationalI Council of Churches, the SynagoIgue Council of America and the U.S. Catholic Conference wrote President Jimmy Carter about a lack of ethical concerns over DNA.
- Will engineering DNA be usurped by industry and used for monetary purposes or will the primary concern be serving those in need?
- Will it generate inequity between the wealthy, who can afford its use, and the poor, who cannot?
- And, too, are we entering into a Frankenstein age?
A long-range perspective
These concerns call for us to employ the principle of thoughtful long-range planning. In the gospels Christ commends a military commander for taking note of the enemy army. If it is overwhelming, he will negotiate rather than do battle: an example of prudently looking afar.
Whenever there are exciting breakthroughs and the possibility of economic gain there is the temptation to develop greedy markets. Sometimes that focus overlooks the impact of the “opportunity” on the future.
Yet another critical crossroad in scientific progress is found in moral ethics. God blessed us with freedom that comes with the responsibility of employing God’s wisdom. The field of moral ethics contains a spirituality that is imperative for guiding critical decision-making. By its nature it transcends worldly thinking and creates Godly discernment.
When faced with postmodern challenges, we can throw up our hands and opt out of confronting them. Or we can roll up our sleeves and seek modern-day wisdom to cope with them.
The song “We Have Only Just Begun” reminds us here that we have entered the new Age of the Unthinkable … and that we have got to start thinking about it with all the wisdom with which God endowed us.