Lesson 4 Flashcards
Where does sanctity of life develop from?
-To say that life has sanctity means that it is holy or sacred to God, and this is the basis of the Sanctity of Life Principle.
-The principle derives from the Genesis texts that humans are made in the image of God (1:26-27) and have a soul (2:7), which together are taken to mean that humans are sacred to God because they reflect his image and alone were given a soul.
-The principle therefore holds that human life has intrinsic value.
Strong from of sanctity of life
-The principle is sometimes described as ‘strong’ (forbidding any kind of killing, for example, through contraception, abortion, euthanasia or removal of life support)
Weak form of sanctity of life
-‘weak’, which argues that the situation should be taken into account.
-The weak form of the principle is also associated with a ‘Quality of Life Principle, which suggests that there are some human conditions where the quality of life is such that a strong Sanctity of Life Principle is inappropriate, and that humans have been given reason and free will to judge these conditions
Sanctity of life and personhood
-Applying the Sanctity of Life Principle to these issues is largely about the question of ‘personhood’.
-The strong Sanctity of Life Principle holds that personhood begins at conception, because all the necessary genetic material that will form the person is present.
-The Catholic Church supports this understanding, arguing that there is a continuous development of each life from conception to birth.
-The strong Sanctity of Life Principle is founded in Scripture, and human conception can be seen as analogous to the incarnation of Jesus Conceived in Mary’s womb’.
-The strong Sanctity of Life Principle rejects the Warnock Report’s 14-day limit for experimentation on human embryos, regarding it as a licence to murder.
What else does strong sanctity of life reject?
-rejects embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning, along with Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis
-rejects abortion at any stage and for any reason: the child’s right to life overrides the quality of life of the mother.
What about the weak principle
-Although the weak Sanctity of Life Principle shares the same scriptural basis as the strong principle, those who support the weak Sanctity of Life Principle reach different conclusions, since the weak Sanctity of Life Principle takes into account both the situation and a Quality of Life Principle.
-Church of England allows abortion for quality of life considerations for both the mother and the foetus
-and different Protestant groups use the same kind of logic to argue that the various forms of embryo experimentation can be legitimate because they support the sanctity of the lives of all who suffer from disease or disability.
Strength of strong and weak
The strong Sanctity of Life Principle protects the value of life, and protects those who suffer disabilities, and the weak Sanctity of Life Principle is in line with Jesus’ teachings on love and compassion.
Weaknesses of strong
-the strong principle can be seen as unscientific, ignoring the evolution of all species, and ignoring the fact that scientifically, human life is no more special than any other form of life.
-The view that humans are made in God’s image can be seen as an anthropomorphic / gender-specific red herring leading to speciesism.
