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Recent new technologies have brought the realm of science fiction to reality. The development of human-animal neuro-chimeras, which are animals with some component of a human brain, plays into society's long-standing fascination with the crossover between humans and animals. In the same way, the development of human brain organoids - small parts of a human brain grown from harvested human cells - feeds our fear and fascination of disembodied brains. The general reaction to these technologies is shock or disgust. This book closely examines the public's response to such new scientific advances: the questions they raise about the biological essence of personhood, the ethics of growing and mixing human-animal parts, and the fears of dystopian misuse that might arise from the development of such technologies.

"Academics have long claimed that the relationship between religion and science concerns knowledge of the physical world, and that conflict ensues because religion has one way of knowing and science another. For example, it is claimed that to find the age of the Earth religious people look to holy scripture and scientists look at the age of rocks. This book shows that this is indeed true among the elites who focus on this debate. However, contrary to the assumptions of elites and public discourse in general, that same relationship and conflict does not exist between religious citizens and science. This book shows that regular religious people in the U.S. are at most in conflict over a few fact claims with science, and that this limited conflict does not lead to conflict with scientific claims writ large. More importantly, American religion has changed since the 1960s, de-emphasizing knowledge claims about the physical world, and becoming more focused on social relationships and thus morality. This book shows that any religion and science debate in the public is not about scientific claims about nature, such as the age of the Earth, but rather about morality - and opposition to the morality implicitly promoted by scientists"--Provided by publisher.

"The debate over what makes human beings unique has raged for hundreds of years, and many believe it is urgent to convince others to accept their particular definition of what it is to be human. Despite these dire warnings, nobody has empirically examined whether particular definitions of a human actually lead to maltreatment. In this book sociologist John H. Evans does and concludes that the definitions of a human promoted by biologists and philosophers actually are associated with less support for human rights. Members of the public who agree with these definitions say they are less willing to sacrifice to stop genocides, and are more supportive of buying organs from poor people, experimenting on prisoners against their will, torturing people to potentially save lives, and having terminally ill people commit suicide to save money. It might appear that the assumptions of critics are empirically correct. However, Evans finds that these critics are actually only partially right, and a detailed examination of the public's views reveals a much more subtle and complex situation. First, he shows that only a minority of the general public agrees with the definitions associated with less support for human rights. Then, he shows that the public has its own definitions of a human being that are unlikely to lead to human rights abuses. So while the critics are right about the definitions of a human promoted by academic biologists and philosophers, at present their concern about widespread maltreatment is overblown"--

How do we as a society decide whether biotechnologies are ethical? For decades, professional bioethicists have served as a mediator. John H. Evans closely examines the history of the bioethics profession, and proposes a radical solution to the current crisis of mistrust

The history of abortion, reproductive genetic technologies, and the contemporary public's views -- Talking about embryonic life -- Nature, God, humanity, and promethean fatalism -- Human dignity and equality of treatment -- Meaningful suffering -- Will religious discourse about reproductive genetic technologies limit debate? -- Conclusions -- Appendix A. methodological appendix -- Appendix B. religious respondent interview guide

Robert Wuthnow and John H. Evans bring together a stellar collection of essays that paints a contemporary portrait of American Protestantism-a denomination that has remained quietly, but firmly, influential in the public sphere. Mainline Protestants may have steered clear of the controversial, attention-grabbing tactics of the Religious Right, but they remain culturally influential and continue to impact American society through political action and the provision of social services. The contributors to this volume address religion's larger role in society and cover such topics as welfare, ecol

Robert Wuthnow and John H. Evans bring together a stellar collection of essays that paints a contemporary portrait of American Protestantism--a denomination that has remained quietly, but firmly, influential in the public sphere. Mainline Protestants may have steered clear of the controversial, attention-grabbing tactics of the Religious Right, but they remain culturally influential and continue to impact American society through political action and the provision of social services