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Researchers’ “Blind faith” in Embryonic Stem-cell Research an “Idolatrous Gospel” says Cardinal

Scientist warns Bioethics fundamentally opposed to traditional, Christian medical ethics

By Hilary White

ARLINGTON, Virginia, August 24, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, Chairman of the bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities, identified the worship of a “a modern-day false idol,” as the greatest modern threat to the unborn. Rigali spoke at the annual conference of directors of diocesan pro-life offices in Arlington, Virginia, on August 2.

Reflecting on the work of pro-life writers warning against the infiltration of utilitarian “Bioethics” in the medical field, Rigali identified an “idolatrous gospel of total autonomy, sheer utility and false mercy,” as the philosophy pushing new attacks on human life.

“Those who have blind faith in embryonic stem-cell research and its so-called 'biblical power to cure' - as House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi called it recently - are worshipping a modern-day false idol," Cardinal Rigali said. “They are putting their faith in an exaggerated view of the wonders of science and in their own ingenuity to overcome disease and aging.”

The formal philosophical school of Bioethics, a branch of utilitarian philosophy, proposes as its three main tenets, “justice,” “beneficence” and “autonomy,” given a purely utilitarian and materialistic interpretation, as the guiding principles for medical workers and researchers. But these principles – Bioethics is also sometimes referred to as “principlism” – were developed as an attempt to produce a “neutral” ethical system that significantly differed from previous Natural Law or Judeo-Christian ethics.

Bioethics expert and research scientist, Dr. Dianne Irving, has written extensively on the origin and nature of the three principles of Bioethics, warning repeatedly that as a theory guiding public policy, it was fundamentally opposed to traditional and Christian medical ethics.

Irving, who graduated from one of the first classes in Bioethics at Georgetown University, wrote, “Traditional medical ethics focuses on the physician's duty to the individual patient, whose life and welfare are always sacrosanct. The focus of bioethics is fundamentally utilitarian, centered, like other utilitarian disciplines, around maximizing total human happiness.” 

Comparing the modern medical establishment’s obsession with stem-cell research with the Israelites’ worshipping of the Golden Calf idol, Rigali said, “In their impatience, stubbornness and disobedience, they created out of their own possessions -- their own jewellery and valuables -- a god they could control. A god they shaped, rather than one they would be shaped by.”

Rigali pointed to the decline in the abortion rate in the US as a sign of hope and of a returning sense of human dignity.

“To be free of disease, to be free of the fear of an ill-timed pregnancy, to be free of a broken heart -- this is the freedom that we want for our young people, and we rejoice that it is unfolding,” he added.

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