First component: Read Clayton’s Religion and Science – Chapter 7

Second component: Go to to the discussion board (click the title) and join the conversation by posting two separate comments on the threads created by the instructor. Each comment should be a minimum of 200 words.

Questions to be Answered (Only 2)

1. Formulate your own responses to these four urgent ethical issues (stem cell research, treatment of patients at the end of life (euthanasia), the rights of human subjects in experiments, and warfare technologies). In what ways do your religious or anti-religious views play a role in the way that you answer?
2. Do you find yourself able to give definitive answers to the ethical problems considered in this chapter, or are there for you multiple shades of gray? Name some ethical issues in this discussion to which you would apply general principles, and some others where you would say that the answer depends on the context and persons involved. What makes the difference between these two different kinds of cases?
3. What role should religion play in public ethical debates, such as those surrounding warfare technology or stem cell research? Is it better to separate government and religion when making ethical decisions, or can religion play an important role in national debates about burning ethical issues in these elds? Why should people in ‘secular’ contexts take religious arguments seriously?
4. How does scientific knowledge affect religious ethics? In the end-of-life debate, for example, to what extent should the results of a brain scan determine how we respond to a person in a coma? Are there any religious ethical commitments that ‘trump’ scientific data? If so, what are they, and why do they ‘trump’ in this way?
5. Are there particular values (i.e., the sanctity of life, the rights of individuals, decreasing overall suffering) that rise to the top of the scale of importance for you as you weigh these ethical issues? Are these values grounded by religious commitments? Could they be shared by others irrespective of their religious views, or are they particular to your own tradition?

First component: Read Clayton’s Religion and Science – Chapter 7

Second component: Go to to the discussion board (click the title) and join the conversation by posting two separate comments on the threads created by the instructor. Each comment should be a minimum of 200 words.

Questions to be Answered (Only 2)

1. Formulate your own responses to these four urgent ethical issues (stem cell research, treatment of patients at the end of life (euthanasia), the rights of human subjects in experiments, and warfare technologies). In what ways do your religious or anti-religious views play a role in the way that you answer?
2. Do you find yourself able to give definitive answers to the ethical problems considered in this chapter, or are there for you multiple shades of gray? Name some ethical issues in this discussion to which you would apply general principles, and some others where you would say that the answer depends on the context and persons involved. What makes the difference between these two different kinds of cases?
3. What role should religion play in public ethical debates, such as those surrounding warfare technology or stem cell research? Is it better to separate government and religion when making ethical decisions, or can religion play an important role in national debates about burning ethical issues in these elds? Why should people in ‘secular’ contexts take religious arguments seriously?
4. How does scientific knowledge affect religious ethics? In the end-of-life debate, for example, to what extent should the results of a brain scan determine how we respond to a person in a coma? Are there any religious ethical commitments that ‘trump’ scientific data? If so, what are they, and why do they ‘trump’ in this way?
5. Are there particular values (i.e., the sanctity of life, the rights of individuals, decreasing overall suffering) that rise to the top of the scale of importance for you as you weigh these ethical issues? Are these values grounded by religious commitments? Could they be shared by others irrespective of their religious views, or are they particular to your own tradition?