Do we need spiritual practices to save us from excessive gene editing?
A Discussion Piece by Eric Bleys
When it comes to STEM, our worldviews don’t leave us when we walk into the science lab or into the technology store. And when it comes to gene editing applied to humans (GEH), religion is correlated with relatively cautious and skeptical attitudes. This correlation does not prove causation. However, there are some reasons to believe that both spirituality and religion might be strengthening our feelings of reluctance about GEH.
Quickly, I should provide definitions of what I mean by spirituality and religion. Spirituality is both practices and attitudes related to non-physical reality. Religion is formal and organized belief related to the concept of divinity. Psychologically speaking, they often involve drawing conceptual connections between material and non-material existence. Ultimately, this common spiritualization of nature might be at the core of skepticism towards GEH. This thesis is only a suggestion. I believe that psychological researchers should explore this possibility more thoroughly.
On December 10th, 2020, Pew Research published global opinion statistics about GEH. The research found that globally, religious people tend to be more skeptical of GEH compared with the unaffiliated. By showing data from twenty different nations, for each question, religious people were more likely to respond negatively compared with the unaffiliated.
Japan was a notable exception to the general trend of secularity correlating with less skepticism. According to the World Population Review, Japan is the fourth least religious nation on earth - with 60 percent of the population unaffiliated. And yet among the twenty nations, Japan was one of the least accepting of GEH. More specifically, Japan was the least accepting nation of GEH for improving a baby’s intelligence. Why is Japan such an outlier? It could be that spiritual practices - and not religion itself, are the true cause of moderation globally. Furthermore, Japan’s spiritual practice of reverence for nature might be intertwined with the nation’s skepticism.
According to an academic article, Japanese culture is described as viewing physical and spiritual realities as intertwined. The article claims that “In Japan - informed by Shinto beliefs around the notions of animism - a soul (“reikon”) lives within all existence and phenomena.” Japanese works of art - including literature, painting and film, emphasize the enchanting presence of spirits within physical objects. This culture can be described as “spiritual but not religious” - meaning that most Japanese people do not have formal religious beliefs and yet they participate in spiritual practices such as visiting Shinto shrines or saying prayers.
In that same article about Japanese spirituality, it is claimed that “Cups can be vessels for long lost ancestors. Would you throw out a cup if it could contain the spirit of your long lost grandma?” If we do not understand how nature is tied together with the spiritual world, then is it ethical to tamper with it?
Typically, religious beliefs also involve spiritual practices. In the United States, Pew Research has shown that religious Americans tend to be more skeptical of GEH compared with secular Americans. On the website Biologos, Jeff Hardin argued for Christians to approach GEH with a cautious attitude; he formulated this argument on the premise that nature is sacred and that humans are sinful. Francis Collins is quoted in the article as having said - “The application of germline manipulation would change our view of the value of human life. If genomes are being altered to suit parents’ preferences, do children become more like commodities rather than precious gifts?” This deeply philosophical question juxtaposes a concept of reverence for life against disrespect for the sacred.
In a way similar to Japanese tradition, Francis of Assissi, an important Catholic saint, spiritualized the inanimate material world by referring to the Sun and the Moon as his “brother” and “sister;” his belief in the spiritual goodness of the material world is at the core of a long tradition of Catholic environmentalism. Furthermore, this same attitude might be at the core of Catholic skepticism towards GEH. If the created material world is already good, then it makes sense that we should be reluctant to change it.
The evidence presented above shows us a correlation between religion and “genetic moderation.” I believe that spirituality might be inducing an attitude of moderation towards changing a system which is typically viewed as both sacred and mysterious. At the dawn of genetic engineering, it is not easy to perceive the line between humanitarian intervention and excessive change. According to the Conversation, certain forms of genetic engineering have already been added to the Doomsday Clock of factors which might cause humanity to go extinct. Ultimately, human genetic engineering is more than just a technical issue. It is also a matter of philosophical perspective. In these debates, spirituality might be shifting our philosophical focus and style of reasoning. Ideally, more psychological research into this topic will help us to discover the benefits of genetic moderation.