Dr. Nigel M. de S. Cameron is a leading Christian expert on bioethics issues in America and Europe. He has appeared on major network and cable news shows and has testified on human cloning before the U.S. Congress. He has written many books, including How to Be a Christian in A Brave New World (with Joni Eareckson Tada) and The Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology. Cameron has news for those believers who think “life issues” just means abortion.
YouthWorker Journal: Why should young people care about genetics?
Cameron: Young people’s lives will be dominated by the technology. Youth in their teens and 20s are being shaped by this new technology and technology in general. The older generations have heard of the possibilities and may actually live to see it; but they won’t really experience it.
For example, when my wife and I married in 1974, the option of test-tube babies wasn’t available. Now, it’s just one of many choices that a couple can make. These technologies are really taking off, and it’s going to revolutionize the way people plan their families.
YWJ: How does being a Christian play in with you being a geneticist?
Cameron: As a Christian scientist, I believe I have a special reason to stand up for what I believe in, but I also think that we should recognize that secular scientists have it, too. People who are passionate about human rights and life don’t have to be Christian.
Others don’t want to have the future generations be machines. For example, with humanfuture.org, we are all from different parts of life, but we understand that to be passionate about life you don’t have to agree with each other. People can be environmentalists, feminists, or conservative Christians and have the same questions and passions.
YWJ: Why is the idea of being able to choose how you want your child such a threatening thing to Christians?
Cameron: It should be threatening for humans in general. As parents, we are motivated for what is best for our baby. You want to have a healthy baby—but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Part of what keeps our babies from being
YWJ: There are so many benefits to working with genetics, but obviously, it’s a slippery slope. Where does one draw the line? How is this different from creating a master race?
Cameron: There’s the question of means and ends. We can cure every disease under the sun; however, we shouldn’t kill human embryos nor should we clone them.
We are slowly creating a master race, but no one is saying we’re like Hitler because we’re using a kinder, gentler eugenics. Parents start with wanting a healthy baby, but they don’t stop there. Soon they want a smarter one, or a more athletic one. These techniques may seem harmless; however, [they] may use embryo stem cells.
We have a sense of perfectionism that we want to pass down to our generations, and it may cost our children their lives. A woman that I wrote about had gotten pregnant, but would abort her baby because it had a finger that was too small. She [did this] several times.
YWJ: As youth workers, what are the main problems of genetics and “designer babies” that we should make known to our youth? What should they know?
Cameron: As churchgoers, we’re ignorant of what is going on. We’re so behind that we aren’t even covering in vitro fertilization, which is the past generation’s genetics.
Youth workers should be alert and aware of the fact that these new technologies that will be available to their young people are good and bad.
These leaders should let their kids know what is going on and what is happening in the world of eugenics. Most Americans know what’s going on in sports. You don’t have to be an expert in the field; you just have to have a good general knowledge. It’s the same with eugenics. People should know what it is they’re signing up for.
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Student journalists Mallory Page, Amy Winter, Sean Griffin and Andrea Verdin wrote this for a Point Loma Nazarene University journalism class.
