LATEST
Joy, sorrow and satisfaction – medical mission in Ecuador
My own personal journey to becoming a medical missionary began when I finished secondary school and went on a short-term mission team to Ecuador. While we ran a Bible club for slum children a five-year-old boy, Juan, came to our attention. He had a gangrenous finger due to a neglected wound and it had to be amputated. I was shocked. I had seen poverty on the television, but now I was seeing its tragic effects first hand. It was no longer nameless faces suffering; it was happening to my friends. Jesus’ words ‘From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded,’ (Luke 12:48) challenged me to consider what I would do with the education, skills and spiritual blessings I had been given so generously. As I looked at the … [Read More...]
RECENT
Embryonic stem cells from cloned human embryos – six reasons for caution
The newspapers are full today of the news that scientists in the US state of Oregon have produced embryonic stem cells (ESCs) using the same cloning technology (somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)) that created Dolly the sheep. The original paper … [Read More...]
It’s exam time! Can smart drugs make you smarter at this testing time?
While a cup of strong coffee is probably the choice of drink for most people studying for exams, perhaps coupled with a healthy diet, some exercise and sleep, many students will be taking something stronger and, it’s claimed, more … [Read More...]
Don’t be fooled by Lord Falconer’s ‘modest’ assisted suicide proposals
Lord Falconer has finally announced that his long awaited assisted suicide bill will be tabled in the House of Lords next week on Wednesday 15 May. It is then that we will finally see the full text of the bill which will then proceed to second … [Read More...]
Doctors should not be forced to provide emergency contraception if they have an ethical objection to it
The Independent has run the story of a ‘Christian-run NHS GP surgery’ which has apparently ‘attracted criticism for posting a notice warning that some of its doctors refuse to prescribe the morning-after pill to patients on grounds of … [Read More...]
Several leading bioethicists defend the practice of infanticide this week in leading medical journal
In February 2012 two bioethicists provoked international outrage with an article advocating infanticide. Writing in the Journal of Medical Ethics (JME), Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva argued in ‘After-birth abortion: why should the … [Read More...]
Featured
Christians: inherently generous?
New research shows that Christians are more generous than the general population when it comes to donation, but not just of money and time. Christians, especially evangelicals, are also more generous when it comes to donation of their blood and … [Read More...]
Speaking out for truth and justice – a Christian responsibility
Speaking out for truth and justice is just one of many responsibilities we have as Christians. But I suspect it is the one that we most willingly shirk, simply because it can be so costly. Being a Christian is costly in many ways. It is costly to … [Read More...]
Flesh and Blood – giving more than money
A campaign to mobilise churches to increase the number of blood and organ donors in the UK has been launched this week. The aim is to build on the Christian culture of giving and make blood and organ donation part of this. In other words, to … [Read More...]
Nurses to be trained to give compassionate care
Falling care standards have prompted a rallying call from the new Chief Nursing Officer. In an increasingly heated debate, she’s calling for nursing to recover its core values – particularly care, compassion, courage, commitment and … [Read More...]
Same sex parenting vs heterosexual parenting: research revisited
A controversial study on gay parenting published this summer generated such an outcry of protest on its findings and ad hominen attacks on the author, that it led, among other things, to an official investigation into the ethics of the study and … [Read More...]
