Category Archives: Ethics

Comments related to ethics, or how we should live

Alternative Medicine – Important Questions

Over the past 15 to 20 years alternative forms of health care have gone from being on the fringe to being main stream. Years ago when we had sickness, we relied on family remedies that had been passed on from generation to generation and, if these failed, we had conventional Western medicine. Today, in many ways, we are less likely to be satisfied with our age old family remedies, and we are increasingly suspicious of conventional Western medicine. (Our suspicion of traditional Western medicine play a smaller role when we are faced with very severe problems, such as a major car accident) Instead of trusting in traditional Western medicine, we are increasingly looking to alternatives such as:

acupuncture, tai chai, homeopathy, chiropractic, reflexology, cranial sacral therapy, bioenergetics, yoga, therapeutic touch, message therapy, etc., … Read the rest

Personhood – Location of the Mind (and Understanding Dementia)

In the posting titled  Personhood – Which Comes First Death of the Body or Departure of the Soul[1]  I grappled with the question of the mind. Science can show that activities of the mind and physical activities in the brain are connected but science does not prove that the mind is simply a function of physical brain activity. Clearly, for others to know that thoughts are occurring in a person’s mind the person must have a functioning brain to express the thoughts through.… Read the rest

Personhood – Conception and the Soul

When does a pre-born baby take on the status of a person?

In a previous blog posting titled, Personhood – What Is It?, I said that a person has intrinsic value with rights and responsibilities.  Personhood, is to have the intrinsic value of a human being with all the rights and responsibilities that go along with being human.

In the blog posting titled, Personhood – Image of God, I showed that this special intrinsic value is given to mankind as part of their creation and  “included a body formed from the dust of the earth and a soul, breathed into man by God.”  … Read the rest

Personhood – Permissible Killing?

A friend commented on my posting titled, Personhood – Which Comes First Death of the Body or Departure of Soul?. In this posting I said that, so far, our society agrees that a person must be dead for vital organs to be taken. My friend pointed out that if a person is unresponsive and sure to die very soon, that there are people who do not have a problem with taking vital organs, even among Christians. Some will agree that this may result in the person dying sooner but will think that this in not really a problem because the person is going to die anyway.  … Read the rest