CHRISTIAN VIEW ON ISSUES RELATED TO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

a. Euthanasia
b. Blood transfusion
c. Organ transplant
d. Genetic engineering
e. Plastic surgery
Euthanasia
It’s a Greek word, which means an easy and painless death. It is ‘mercy killing’ ending a person’s life so as to alleviate them from experiencing pain. It's practiced with the sick person’s knowledge, it is involuntary when its practiced against or without the sick person’s consent
It's done by

1. Injecting an overdose of sleeping pills to the sick person
2. Switching off life support machine
3. Exposing the person with chronic pneumonia to very cold air

Christian's view on Euthanasia
Christians are opposed to euthanasia for several reasons such as

1. Life is sacred, a gift from God and only God can take away human life
   
2. Suffering is part of human life
   
3. Euthanasia is against medical ethos, which demands that doctors and nurses work for the sustenance of human life and alleviation of suffering but not to terminate it
   
4. Jesus has power over sickness and through his name all sickness are healed
   
5. Accepting euthanasia discourages medical research on vaccines that may cure various diseases
   
6. Euthanasia discourages patients and makes them to lose hope in life. They may feel unwanted and rejected.

Blood transfusion

• It’s the process of injecting a person’s blood into another person through his/her veins. The giver is a donor the receiver is a recipient.

Reasons for blood transfusion

1. When a person is suffering from acute anemia (little blood in the body) low blood level
   
2. To restore blood lost during fatal accidents, wars, or childbirth
   
3. To maintain blood levels for patients undergoing major operations
   
4. To correct the low haemoglobin level of some patients
   
5. Blood has to be screened for any diseases, and then kept in blood bank after determining the blood group. The transfusion should be in a hygienic way. The equipment used should be sterilized
   
6. Donors should not be below 16 years or above 65 years

Alternatives to blood transfusion

1. Volume expanders — increase fluid levels in the body
2. Growth factors — intra operative / post operative
3. Blood salvage — same blood when on surgery is saved then transfused back to the patient

​Christian view on blood transfusion

1. Some Christians believe it is wrong to take blood from a healthy person and transfuse it to another person's
   
2. Blood is life and life cannot be taken from one person to another
   
3. Blood transfusion is essential as it saves life
   
4. Blood transfusion can transmit dangerous diseases like HIV / AIDS and Hepatitis B
   
5. God has given Christians the intelligence and capability to make the right decision and choice

Organ transplant

• This is the removal of a defective organ and replacing it with a healthy one. Body organs transplanted are kidneys, heart and eyes small intestines, pancreas

The purpose is to replace the damaged organ of a recipient

• Common transplants are the heart, kidney, eyes from living and the dead (heart) within a span of hours. Eyes can be transplanted from animals

Christian view on organ transplant

1. It saves life hence acceptable to some
2. It's transferring human life from one person to another
3. It's wrong to transplant from animals — view by some Christians
4. Some support organ transplant by referring to the story of creation of Eve from parts of Adam
5. It is part of human beings continuing with the creation work of God
6. It is an expression of love and concern for those suffering as taught by Jesus Christ

Genetic engineering

• It’s a scientific technique used by scientists to change the biological characteristics of living organisms by deliberately altering the structure of individual genes
  
• There are genetically modified foods, genetically engineered seeds, test tube babies, human clones, and genes of human insulin

​Human cloning
This is a form of genetic engineering. It’s a creation of genetically identical copy of a human being, human cell

• Twins are a form of natural cloning
  
• There’s therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning (human cloning)
  
• Therapeutic cloning is when cells from an adult are used in creating medicine or for research
  
• Reproduction cloning is the making of human beings
  
• More than 90% of cloning has failed
  
• Animals cloned have died young, had cancers or arthritis
  
• Human cloning is illegal worldwide
  
• Genetic cells are used to treat Alzheimer, heart attack, cancer
  
• Test tube babies are different from human cloning. Test tube babies are where the egg and sperm is fused together outside the body
  
• In cloning, a needle like device is used to draw out the cells from an embryo, then preserved using chemicals, then put in a womb/uterus to grow. Some do not need a sperm cell, they use other body cells for fertilization.

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Reasons for advocating human cloning

• Can clone people whose genetic composition is of a genius, people with special abilities or talents
  
• Can be able to bring, revive back great extinct characteristics
  
• Those who support it believes it can reduce immorality

​Reasons against human cloning

1. God is the sole creator. Cloning takes the place of God
   
2. It dehumanizes human beings purpose of human reproduction
   
3. It destroys uniqueness of each individual (Cloning is an exact copy)
   
4. It can be abused and used to create antisocial people (rapists, thieves)
   
5. May create deformed people
   
6. It’s un-ethical, immoral experiment. Its destruction of the embryo hence abortion
   
7. 95% of clones have failed (animal) most animals died
   
8. It's illegal
   
9. Closed animals died of cancer, had arthritis, deformities and an early death
   
10. Cloning may bring a destructive copy of humans

​​Advantages of genetic engineering

1. Implanting genes that are diseases free in people, plant and animals could prevent diseases
   
2. Genetic crops yield more
   
3. Helps to determine the biological parent in case of dispute on babies (DNA)
   
4. Helps to increase disease resistance in crops and altering animal traits in plants and animals
   
5. Assists in classifying blood during screening before it’s transfused to another person

​​Christian view of genetic engineering

1. Christians support genetic engineering that is beneficial to human beings e.g. Cure of genetic diseases, production of drugs, plant and animals
   
2. Human beings are made in God’s image and are loved by God with or without defects
   
3. The dignity of the human being is eroded or disregarded and should be upheld
   
4. Christians oppose cloning and test tube babies
   
5. Its against God’s will or teaching

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Plastic surgery

• It’s to change or mould the shape of something, to enhance or restore an area of the body
  
• It’s repairing or improving of damaged, diseased or unsatisfactory shaped parts of the body with pieces of skin or bone taken from other parts of the body
  
• Skin grafting is the most common type of plastic surgery
  
• Plastic surgery is done on cleft lips i.e. cosmetic surgery, breast surgery
  
• reduction or enlargement, surgery done to look younger
  

Reasons for plastic surgery

• It can help restore one's confidence or self— esteem
  
• It enhances beauty, attractiveness and youthfulness
  
• It enhances a person’s life and can be a life changing procedure
  
• It may help a person to get a new job

​​Disadvantages

• It's expensive
  
• Can lead to transmission of diseases Christian views on plastic surgery
  
• Some support it, as it has some benefits
  
• Some Christian oppose plastic surgery in order to look younger
  
• Some argue that some people do it because of a lack of self — acceptance, low self esteem hence should work on such issues first.

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