Saturday, March 16, 2013

And So We Begin


                Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.” - Thomas Jefferson

                It is from constant thought and questioning that we come to our beliefs, moral standards, and ethics as a society.  Lately, it seems that we do less and less questioning and critical thinking, while advances in technology push us into deeper and deeper ethical dilemmas.

                In this blog I will, in my way, try to spur discussion on ethical issues as they pertain to the biological or life sciences.  I have my M.S. in bioethics from Union Graduate College and have a sincere passion for bioethical debate, thought, and discussion.  On this page my plan is to write commentaries on current events and issues in bioethics.  Some of the topics I plan to pursue are: abortion, physician assisted suicide, environmentalism, and health care.  These topics are certainly not limited so if you have further suggestions please feel free to share them with me.

                All of our opinions are colored by the lens through which we view the world.  For me, I am a strong Catholic who views the world as the divine creation of a loving God.  I believe in the sanctity of life and that man is meant to be a good steward of creation.  My political affiliation is Libertarian Conservatism.  I do not believe that the government is the only hope for the helpless or that problems are solved through bureaucracy and regulation.  Rather, they are solved through ingenuity and creative thinking.  I believe in charitable works and that it is our individual job to care for the helpless.

                I am a trained scientist in the areas of biology and biochemistry and value reason and proof in argument.  I live for differing opinions and love nothing more than a good honest debate.  It is an unfortunate reality that our culture has forgotten how to have healthy debates where both sides present well formed, well-reasoned arguments.  Instead, what often happens now is communication breakdown and one side or the other dissolves into name calling.  I would like to avoid this here, I know many of you will often disagree with my opinion and I welcome reasoned dissent.  I do not profess to know everything or be right all the time and realize that we all come at things from our own personal biases.  Please challenge me, I welcome it, but I do ask that you try to avoid the mental kiddie pool that is driven by insults and name calling.

                I hope, dear reader, that you find the world of bioethics as fascinating as I do and I look forward to beginning this journey with you. 

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