Fears over NHS drugs costs ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6652183.stm

How much should we have to pay for drugs that keep us alive? Who should be subsidised? If all drugs were to be free, where should the money come from? How do we make the decision about how much to charge for certain drugs? All these are areas relating to medical ethics ...

Stallone admits hormone charges

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6656407.stm

In the Religion and Sport unit with Year 12s, we have looked at the use of drugs in sport - what are the ethical considerations of Sylvester Stallone possessing growth hormone drugs? He was stopped in Sydney while promoting his most recent Rocky movie ... what example is he setting to his fans? What do you think?

Video and Audio: Embryo Research

There have been a lot of relevant, controversial and interesting articles in the news recently relating to Embryo Research and other Genetic Engineering issues, all of which are of particular interest to the A Level students. There are many informative videos on the BBC Video and Audio search on Embryo site. One of the most recent issues is whether embryos should be allowed to be screened for a breast cancer gene, in order to protect future children. Is this a good idea, saving future lives from the heartache caused by cancer, or does it diminish the personhood of all those with, or those who may be diagnosed in the future as having, cancer? What would Natural Law have to say about this? Or Act or Rule Utilitarianism?

Woman loses final embryo appeal

Natallie Evans began IVF treatment with her partner after learning that she had ovarian cancer. Six fertilised embryos were frozen so she could have children later. However, she split up with her partner, and he then withdrew his consent for these embryos to be used. This means that Ms Evans cannot have children. Today was her final chance, as the Grand Chamber of the European Court agreed with the British courts and the European Court of Human Rights, that her ex-partner's right to withdraw consent should be upheld. This will mean that the six embryos will now be destroyed. Click here for an article by the BBC.

AS students ... you may need to consider issues such as this in your exam. Whose rights should be considered here? The woman, her ex-partner, the embryo? What stance would different theories take?

IVF in the news

Twin IVF births 'need to be cut' says the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority. Women often used to have more than one embryo implanted to make it more likely that one would survive. However, IVF has become more successful, so the number of twins being born has increased. These twins are more likely to be born premature, and therefore are more at risks of encountering other problems. There is therefore a suggestion that women should be encouraged to be only given one embryo - but at the risk that this embryo might not survive.

Read the articles, watch the film, and consider not only what you think, but also what Kant, Fletcher, Bentham, Mills, Catholics, Liberal Protestants might think. Post a comment, AS class! Get involved ... let's try and start a discussion.

Abolition of the Slave Trade

I've just been pointed towards another anti-slavery website, Set All Free. AS class ... how might utilitarians view slavery? What about absolutists, or relativists?

Forgiveness

Task:

Click on The Forgiveness Project website. Go to stories, and read through some of the stories of reconciliation and conflict resolution.

In your book, summarise three of the stories you think are most interesting. You could copy out the key quotes into your book.

Then post a comment on this blog saying which story you find most inspirational, motivating or hopeful, and why. Leave your first name or your initials so I can see who has completed the task.

Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Fortnight starts tomorrow ... what can you do to help? Well, for a start you can buy Fairtrade bananas, coffee, tea, chocolate, hot chocolate ... Most, if not all, major supermarkets stock a variety of Fairtrade Products. If you can't find what you are looking for, why not ask? You can also fill in a card at most stores saying how they can improve - why not ask for more fairly traded products?

GCSE Podcasts

I'm all for new technology, and I know that many of you have iPods or mp3 players, so you may find the resources at GCSE Podcast helpful. I found a couple of podcasts on euthanasia (free) and abortion (£1.50). These sound very useful for revision purposes. Check them out!

Legal Battle over "Right to Die"

Right to die? Read this article, and watch the clip, to find out more about Kelly Taylor's battle to force doctors to end her life.

Listen to Kelly's story ... should she be allowed to be helped to die? Or is it right that euthanasia remains illegal in the UK?

Vegetarianism or Happy Pigs

(Image from bbc.co.uk - website below)

I read this interesting article about a man who was a vegetarian but now farms his own pigs, which he eats.

Tom Welch, the farmer, said that his reasons for being a farmer were ethical farming ones - he believes it is wrong to keep animals in poor conditions, and that there is no clear link between the meat we buy in the supermarkets and the animal it came from.

One comment by a reader at the end struck me:
"Tom Welch has clearly never been a true vegetarian. His reasons for being so were out of concern for animal welfare during farming. But the true reason for being vegetarian is that you believe it is morally and logically wrong to kill other creatures in order to eat their flesh when it is possible to live off grains, pulses, fruit, vegetables, and nuts."
- Neil, County Antrim

Is there are "true reason" for being a vegetarian? What do you think? Should people be vegetarians? If so, why? Are some reasons better than others?

Martin Luther King

My Year 11 class has been set homework based on the life, beliefs and actions of Martin Luther King.

This homework is to be a substantial piece of writing, for example an obituary, a mindmap, a factfile, a eulogy, a speech, a letter, a newspaper report, a powerpoint, or perhaps something else that you can think of. (Check with me that it's okay.) I have looked up some relevant websites.

Remember, websites can be biased and may contain inaccuracies. It's always good to double check your facts!

The King Centre
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Wikipedia
Time Magazine: 100 Most Influencial Leaders

And here's MLK's famous "I have a dream" speech:

Source - YouTube, "I Have A Dream"

Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Fortnight is coming up soon ... Year 9s will be learning about how we can become more conscious of fairly traded products, which will follow on from the work that you have been doing on the conscience. Can we keep a clear conscience if we buy products that have not been fairly traded, and, instead, buy products - bananas, coffee, trainers, footballs, flowers - that have been produced to bring large profits to a few people while those who work on harvesting or making them get very little?

Watch out for more on Fairtrade Fortnight ...

Big Brother ... Racist?

I was hoping to avoid Big Brother ... but when it makes not only the front page of the Evening Standard, and many broadsheet Indian newspapers, and is discussed in Parliament and on the Radio 4 news (and click here for a BBC link), then I suppose it ought to be on this blog!

In case you've not been following the news, there have (to date) been almost 20,000 complaints made to Ofcom, the watchdog body that overseas the media. People have been complaining that some of the contestants (namely Jade, Jade's mother and boyfriend, Danielle and Jo) have been bullying, and making racist comments about, Shilpa Shetty, a Bollywood star.

Gordon Brown is in India today, and he has been asked many questions about Big Brother by people who are extremely upset with the treatment seen of Shilpa. At the moment, Channel 4 are saying that there's not much they can do about it when Shilpa has not complained ... however, many of the comments have been made behind her back.

If you worked for Endemol, or Channel 4, what would you do? Would you want to stop showing the show, or pull out the main offenders to talk to them, or let things run and see how the main culprits respond when they are finally voted out? What would a Christian response be? How would you react if you were one of the celebrities in the house? Who do you respect most, out of the housemates?

First Test Tube Baby has her own baby

Louise Brown, the world's first test tube baby, has given birth to her first child (conceived naturally).

A Level students should be aware of this case, as part of the "right to a child" debate.

Girl banned from wearing a crucifix at school

The Daily Mail headline was large and clear yesterday. "Crucifix banned in school" (or something similar). Samantha Devine, who attends a non-denominational school, had been told to remove her crucifix, a gift from her father. Outrageous? Her father thinks so: "I have seen other religous pupils at the school who are not part of the Christian fath, but they are allowed to wear their religious garments and symbols without being questioned," he said.

However, the school has stated that the reason she has been asked to remove the necklace is because it represents a health and safety risk, and therefore goes against the school rules, which state that neck chains cannot be worn. The school has given Samantha the option of wearing a small lapel badge. After all, Christians are not required to wear any symbol of Christianity, whereas in some religions there is a religious requirement to wear certain clothing or symbols - for example, the 5Ks of Sikhism require every Sikh to have uncut hair (kesh) (and therefore wear a turban) and to wear a bangle (kanga).

At a conference yesterday, I heard that a Bishop (unfortunately I cannot remember the name, nor can I find it on the internet - can anyone help me find his statement?) was interviewed, explaining that Christians are not required to wear symbols, but are required to follow the rules of authority (or something like that) - in this case, if the girl really wishes to show her devotion she could wear a lapel badge, but she should certainly keep the school rules. There is no need for her to break them.

This is an interesting discussion, covering free will, the place of symbolism, devotion, and using religion as an excuse to get your own way ... I'd be with the school and the Bishop on this one. Would you be?

For more on this story at the BBC, click here.

Scientology Charity gives money to Labour

Labour given thousands by Scientology charity
Thought this could be of interest to those of you in Sixth Form who are studying Sects and Cults at the moment ... Should the Government accept money from this cult? Click on the link above to find out more about this story.

BNP Ballerina

'BNP Ballerina' returns to stage
Clink on the link above to read more about the English National Ballet dancer, Simone Clarke, who has admitted to being a member of the BNP. There have been protests outside the London Coliseum demanding that she should be sacked, since the ENB is a publically-funded organisation which receives £6million from the Arts Council each year, which requires recipients to be "aware of how their work contributes to race equality and promoting good race relations".

I first heard of this situation duing a conversation about free speech, and the difference between absolutism and relativism in the UK today. The person who mentioned this news was explaining that he thought that absolute views were out of date nowadays, and that he felt that relative morality was therefore a better position to take. In relation to this story, he believed that since the BNP is a legal political party, that in a democracy one should be able to state your political views freely, without feeling that people were going to campaign for your dismissal from a job.

However, the second person in the discussion said that he felt that any position being expressed in public by someone receiving money from the Arts Council, should express a position that was "for" life, not against it, which he feels the BNP is. My own position (I had not read the article so was not at that time in full possession of the facts) was that perhaps Joseph Fletcher's stance, in his Situation Ethics, that "love" was to be the marker by which one makes their decisions, was a positive one that could be embraced in this situation.

What do you think? Freedom of speech? Public money? Absolute views for/against the BNP? Relative morality ... are all positions equally valid, or are some invalid?

Saddam Hussein: Execution

It's not very festive, but it is everywhere. Saddam Hussein was executed in the early hours of yesterday morning, and every front page of every newspaper features a picture of him with the noose around his neck.

But should he have faced the death penalty? Read the following statement regarding the reaction from the Vatican.

Some of the strongest criticism came from the Vatican. The Catholic Church teaches that all human life must be respected from conception until its natural end. The execution "is tragic news . . . that risks feeding the spirit of revenge and sowing new violence," said Pope Benedict XVI's spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi.

"Even though this is a person guilty of grave crimes," Lombardi told Vatican Radio, the execution "is a motive for sadness. The killing of a guilty party is not the way to build justice nor to reconcile society."

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20061231/1057956.asp

What do you think?

(War and Punishment are some of the issues which will be covered later in A2 Ethics.)

To buy a goat ... or not to buy a goat ...

(Pic found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/prasoonpics/325703407/ - some excellent pictures here, and I'm glad to credit them.)

Another interesting news item on PM today was about whether or not it's a good idea to buy someone a goat for Christmas ... or rather, should a gift of a goat for someone in a developing country be made instead of buying someone a present in the UK?

This link introduces the issue, raised here in February 2006.

A Goat is not just for Christmas ...

CAFOD, Oxfam, Christian Aid, Food Aid and other organisations all have schemes where you can buy a goat, some educational textbooks, medicine, a well or other similar gifts for people in LEDCs, and you give a card to your loved one telling them what has been bought. This has proved to be very popular.

The idea is based on the old Chinese proverb: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for today. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

However, the World Land Trust has pointed out that goats eat lots and drink lots of water, so may not be the best gift for someone in a developing country.

Look up the arguments ... what do you think?