This Present Biopolitical Darkness

In a society strongly marked by “rights” rather than social obligation, everything becomes negotiable.

Bioethics and Population, by Michel Schooyans; translated by J.H. Miller (Catholic Central Union of America, 112 pp.; $10, paper); Power over Life, by Michel Schooyans; translated by J.H. Miller (Catholic Central Union of America, 75 pp.; $8, paper). Reviewed by J. Daryl Charles, assistant professor of religion and philosophy at Taylor University and author of Virtue Amidst Vice: The Catalog of Virtues in 2 Peter 1 (Sheffield Academic Press).

Reading these two volumes is akin to reading Solzhenitsyn-except with a bioethical twist. The author, a professor emeritus of political and moral philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain and member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, observes in both works how utterly undemocratic are the considerable achievements in the fields of human reproduction and biomedical science. The ambiguous relationship that exists between science and political power-what the author call “biopolitics”-does not, in his view, bode well for Western democracy. This relationship, which has already left its hideous mark on the present century, raises questions of momentous import as we approach the third millennium.

In his assessment of surging biomedical and biotechnological developments, the author is unsparing in his critique of the tendency to subordinate truth to personal freedom. This subordination can be seen in the triumph of committees of ethics, where procedure, not universally binding moral principles, dictates. Without reference to a transcendent good to be preserved, or an evil to be avoided, there remains no common morality that binds together the tissue of the human community. All the significant social movements since the nineteenth century have shared a common feature: they have contested the abuses of power committed against society’s weakest members. But in a society strongly marked by “rights” rather than social obligation, everything becomes negotiable-from abortion and fetal-tissue research to mechanical procreation, from eugenics to euthanasia.

Schooyans’s vision of the future might be deemed Orwellian to the extent that he understands the critical role language plays in preserving or distorting ethical/bioethical discourse. When language is forced to function in an environment of artificiality, it becomes the handmaiden of demagoguery. As Schooyans reminds us, it is the obligation of the Christian community, once this linguistic-moral slide has begun to occur, to discern, denounce, and resist such corruption.

Twentieth-century history demonstrates that a society’s drift toward soft or hard totalitarianism is established at times by force, at other times by ruse. In the latter case, the transformation is gradual, frequently facilitated by procedural law. Evil may be consummated when law is invoked to remove protection for the defenseless en masse. At that point it is too late to ponder-and argue-whether or not a democracy has become a “regime.” Ever reflecting on the past, Schooyans has little tolerance for wishful thinking in considering the future: that laws are presently voted on by parliaments and congressional bodies in the Western world does not alter the fact that “biopolitical” monstrosities of the past can repeat themselves or be transmogrified into new evils.

In viewing biopolitical developments as a seamless garment rather than as isolated issues, the author in the end leaves unanswered the most unsettling of questions: Has the church been penetrated by ultra-individualism to the extent that she is ultimately unable to address, much less resist, the biopolitical realities that confront her at the threshold of the third millennium?

Also in this issue

The Pursuing Father: What we need to know about this often misunderstood Middle Eastern parable.

Cover Story

The Pursuing Father

Howard Stern Takes TV to New Lows

Abraham Kuyper: A Man for This Season

Classic & Contemporary Excerpts from October 26, 1998

Veils, Kisses, and Biblical Commands

Moms in the Crossfire

Stumped by Repentance

Whatโ€™s a Heaven For?

Native Christians Reclaim Worship

Christian Syndicate Launched

Goats Make Holiday Gift Lists

Israelโ€™s Holocaust

Bill Would Limit Lethal Drugs

Famine Toll Exceeds 1 Million

Christian Journalists Form Society

In Brief: October 26, 1998

Churches Seek Debt Cancellation

CoMission Expands to Africa and Asia

House Church Leaders Call for Freedom

Pastoral Trio to Hold Clinton โ€™Accountableโ€™

Turning Back the Clock

A Restoration Project

A Restoration Project

Letters

Lyons Retains Post Despite Fraud Charges Adultery

Spurning Lady Luck

White House Scandal Sparks Church Dialogue

Zoning: City Nixes Worship Permit at Vineyard Church

The Clumsy Embrace

Fighting for Fairness

Editorial

The Presidentโ€™s Small Group

The End of the Great Rebellion

The Other Brother Had a Point

Rejecting the Prodigal

The Missing Mother

Wild Card Election

View issue

Our Latest

The Bulletin

A Brief Word from Our Sponsor

The Bulletin recaps the 2024 vice presidential debate, discusses global religious persecution, and explores the dynamics of celebrity Christianity.

The Russell Moore Show

Belief, Experience, and Expectations of God

Steve Cuss talks about finding peace in the tensions of our faith.

Be Afraid

Be Afraid Bonus Episode 2: Mac Brandt

Mac Brandt discusses horror, race, and playing the bad guy.

Where Ya From?

โ€˜Finding Light in Darknessโ€™ with Lily Meschi

Lily Meschi shares her remarkable story of coming to know Christ and her calling to help her Iranian sisters know how wonderfully and fearfully they are made.

The Bulletin

One-on-One with Jon Foreman

Clarissa Moll interviews Switchfootโ€™s Jon Foreman.

Being Human

A Merciful Response to Doubt with Lisa Fields

The Christian apologist calls believers to embody Jude 3.

The Bulletin

A Frightened Dog Barks Louder

The Bulletin talks about Israelโ€™s recent attacks in Lebanon, the soul of MAGA, and shamelessness in the scandal stories of Sean Combs and Olivia Nuzzi.

The Russell Moore Show

Tattoos, โ€˜Shrek,โ€™ and the End of Life on Earth

Jen Wilkin speaks on the hope of Revelation.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube