Can God redeem technologies that have sinful beginnings?
With the advent (no Christmas pun intended) of the COVID vaccine, I have seen a huge uptick of Christians who are claiming some conspiracy theory of aborted fetus tissues being used in the production of the vaccine. I did some digging, and their claims are a little twisted. HEK293 and HeLa cells were used in the studies leading to the production of the vaccine. HEK293 cells were derived from the kidney tissue of an aborted fetus, and HeLa cells were derived from an African American cancer patient without her knowledge or consent. So yes, these cells were derived from aborted tissue and a human source in an unethical manner, but these cells have been immortalized, meaning that the cells can divide continuously. They cannot grow into a functioning human being, as the cells are already specialized into a certain type of cell. These cells being used does not mean that babies are constantly being killed when these cells are used. Does this history of these cell lines means that Christians in the laboratory should avoid using them? I would like to think about that question today and examine some trains of thought.
One of the first thoughts we could
have is to get rid of the technology (cell lines in this case) in its entirety
and not use it because of the origins. It is definitely one option, but I think
it communicates something about the possible redemption of the technology, and
the people who made it. If we can’t use a technology like HEK293 cells at all,
I think it communicates that the cells, and the people who made it are beyond
saving, which goes counter to the Christian message.
We can use the technology, even with
knowledge of unfavorable origin. Obviously, we should avoid situations in which
human lives are sacrificed to make scientific advancement, but I think we can
continue to use technologies that have morally wrong origins, as long as we are
learning from the past and are trying to walk more like Christ and hold human
life in the high regard that God holds human life, as demonstrated in
scripture. These cell lines have been used to understand the nature of the
human cell, which has helped to develop all sorts of treatments for medical
conditions, not just the COVID vaccine. This shows that technologies can be redeemed
from an evil beginning to bring about what I think we all can agree are “goods”
for mankind.
I think the third line of thought
is decidedly non-Christian, and that is a selfish manner of letting the means
justify the ends, and only caring about if a technology brings about good for
you, the consumer. We obviously don’t need to consider this one too much, as most
of us, Christian and atheist alike, find this approach to be intellectually lazy
and we should work to consider the ethics of what is being done to advance
society.
There are my thoughts on this
controversy about the vaccine, I personally think it does a disservice to the
sacrifice of the people in producing the cells or other technologies, voluntary
or not, for us to totally disregard results that could be used to bring about
human good, as long as further harm is not caused in its use. In fact, many
medical and other advancements were derived from the grisly experiments performed
by the Nazis in the concentration camps. The recent discussion and these I
think help as a physical realization of Romans 8:28. What do you think? Have I
missed anything to consider? Let me know and may God bless you and have a great
rest of your day!
References
https://www.fda.gov/media/144414/download
https://www.immunology.org/hela-cells-1951
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190723-the-ethics-of-using-nazi-science
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