How Brave a New World?

Commencement Address, St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland, May 13, 2007.

Leon R. Kass 

"The greatest moral challenges headed our way do not in fact come from hate-filled fanatics threatening death and destruction. They come rather from well meaning scientists and technologists offering life, pleasure, and enhancement. They are the by-products of modernity's noble and humanitarian quest to conquer nature for the relief of man's estate. They are, in a word, the challenges of bioethics, challenges to our humanity arising from burgeoning new technological powers to intervene in the bodies and minds of human beings."

President Nelson, Members of the Board of Visitors and Governors, Tutors of the College, families and friends of the graduates, and, most especially, members of the Class of 2007, St. John's College. Today we take time from our several labors to gather together in celebration and thanksgiving. In this rite of passage, both mindful of the past and anticipating the future, we honor and take pride in your present accomplishments as graduates of this remarkable College. We give thanks for the blessings of family and friends without whom these achievements would not have been possible. We rejoice in the attainments of the human mind, heart, and spirit. 

Today is also for me an occasion of joy and gratitude. I am deeply grateful for the honor of addressing you this morning; for I love and greatly esteem this place and the idea and practice of liberal education that it champions. I regard my few years here as a Tutor in the early 1970s to be among the most intellectually and humanly rewarding experiences of my professional life. It was here that I first began to teach. It was here that I first began really to learn. It was here that I made the acquaintance of a few great books that have been my steady companions ever since. In the years ahead, I trust that you, like me, will increasingly appreciate what a wonderful privilege it has been to live and learn in this rare community. And I trust that you, like me, will find the education you have begun here to be an invaluable guide for understanding and grappling with the enormous challenges that lie ahead. 

Surveying the world you graduates are about to enter, I am reminded of the ancient Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times." My own time has been interesting to a fault, but yours will almost certainly be more so. For the world has rolled itself into a new millennium amidst signs of great promise but also of great peril, calling for great courage and still greater wisdom. I have in mind not only the need, post-9/11, to stand-up against terror and fanaticism in defense of life, liberty, and the rule of law, a need that is likely to continue for your entire lives. I am thinking also of the need, in Winston Churchill's words, to "Deserve Victory," and especially to keep human life human in the dawning new age of biotechnology. complete address (pdf)...

THE SEATTLE PI - PI MEANING THE POWER OF IGNORANCE

Ideology causes the worst kind of blindness and too frequently the Drive-By Media is completely blind and in denial. This was evident in both a Seattle PI article and follow-up editorial on post-abortion syndrome. Valerie L. Call Jacobs, Coordinator, Project Rachel quoted in the original story responded to the editorial with a letter to the editor. As I have said before, abortion doesn't empower women it destroys them. Since I have yet to see her letter printed, I present it here:

To those working in the field of post-abortion healing, questioning the existence of post-abortion syndrome (PAS) is absurd. Just so, other significant conditions (not a disease) suffered periods of social denial. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) went unrecognized for decades and was undefined in diagnostic manuals; veterans suffering from symptoms were described as weak men. Pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) was also dismissed. After all, we know women are emotional and a bit crazy. Only recently are we treating the grief of miscarriage with empathy, allowing space for a process of resolution. In each case, society moved from dismissal, and even ridicule, to acknowledgement and empathy.

Fortunately, the tide is turning with regard to PAS, as evidenced by a recent scientific study by Dr. David Fergusson (Journal of Child Psychiatry and Psychology, January 2006), one of many current scientific studies of PAS. Philosophically pro-choice, Dr. Fergusson found that women who had an abortion had elevated rates of depression, anxiety, suicidal behaviors and substance abuse, unrelated to prior mental health history.

This study validates what we have witnessed for 30 years, as we have listened to the stories of women of all faiths, and no faith. It is ironic and unfortunate that women experiencing crisis, trauma and grief in relation to their abortions continue to be dismissed by others – especially by other women. This tyranny of ridicule suppresses resolution of grief and prevents healing.

Women and men, of any faith or no faith, who come through Rachel's Vineyard retreats receive unconditional compassion and love.

Valerie L. Call Jacobs, MA
Coordinator, Project Rachel

Why I'm going to make a holster for the TV remote

With Condoms in Particular, Local Stations Can Say No
By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN
Published: July 16, 2007

Controversy over a new advertising campaign by Trojan, the condom maker, has trickled down to the local level, with television stations in Pittsburgh roundly refusing to show it, and stations in Seattle giving it the green light. More...

Bioethics, Animal Liberation, and the Threat to Human Exceptionalism: Why Being Human Matters

For those in the Seattle, WA area:

Featuring Discovery Sr. Fellow Wesley J. Smith, Part of the McNaughton Fellows Lecture Series

Discovery Senior Fellow Wesley J. Smith offers a lecture on what it means to be human. He is a prolific author and activist, and one of the nation's leading advocates for the value and sanctity of human life. His most recent book, Consumer's Guide to the Brave New World presents a clear-eyed vision of two potential futures: In the first, biotechnology will be a powerful tool to treat disease and improve the quality of our lives. But in another, darker scenario, we will be steered onto the path that Aldous Huxley and other prophetic writers first warned against fifty year ago. Two of his other books, Forced Exit and Culture of Death, examined assisted suicide and the biomedical industry respectively. He is currently working on a book critiquing the radical animal rights movement. Mr. Smith maintains an active schedule as a public speaker, publishes several stories and editorials per month, and blogs daily at Secondhand Smoke.

The event will be held Thursday, August 16 from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. at Discovery Institute, located in the Melbourne Tower at the corner of Third Avenue and Pike Street in downtown Seattle. Location is well served by Metro and public parking is accessible from the corner of Second Avenue and Pike Street. Refreshments will be provided. Suggested donation: $10.00

To register for this event, please contact Janet Markwardt at (206) 292-0401 ext. 111 or send email inquiries to janetm@discovery.org.

First things first

This blog will attempt to convey the principle context of the issues of today. The emphasis will be on prolife issues (the greatest human rights issue of our time), but given that, from a philosophical perspective, many issues intersect on a fundamental level, it could cover almost anything.