Some interesting questions in a seminar today: how do you decide what to spend your limited health dollars on? What constitutes ethical research?A Jewish Rabbi gave us some insights into her grappling with these and other issues. One of her claims to fame is that she represented the interests of a baboon in a cross species medical experiment.
By all counts an unpleasnat affair in which the baboon ended up dead.
What is clear is that the Jewish approach, while having certain strong points because of its sophisticated approach to rules and laws, also leaves something to be desired because it doesn't easily allow for difficult situations. And we were quite mild in our questions, and I am afraid that you can only hear ...Yes that is a tricky situation...so often without realising that this code doesn't actually seem to address it.
Whilst affirming strongly that it is God's desire for harmony and bl;essing for the world (and that is worth saying) I also want a bit more than just sophisticated rules.
4 comments:
I know that Jews tend to hold the sanctity of life to be infinite, in accordance with Jewish laws. Can you expand on what bothered you about the Rabbi's approach?
I just think that a system of rulesin the end will be found lacking. One example she used was that in Judaism a baby is not a human life until it has crowned (ie...the head has appeared).
I asked the question about whether it would be OK in their opinion then to harvest organs from an in utero baby.
"Oh", said Rabbi Patty, "you just wouldn't do that"
Well quite (I thought) but your rules would allow you to do so.
St Paul in Romans tells us that rules just don't cut the cake...they only tell us when we have broken them. They don't help us to live a good life, just expose when we have not!!
Hmm, she doesn't sound like a bioethicist? Her view as to when human life begins is a concern!
Are you talking about life under OT law?
Louise
I guess this is what I find lacking in the legalistic approach.
Although we Christians often see ourselves as sort of latter-day Jews, I am always struck about how we are culturally and intellectually quite different.
While the code she is presenting is consistent in its own terms, I don';t actually hold it to be so in mine!!
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