Matters of Life and Death

The latest report from the UN's climate scientists was both incredibly downbeat about climate change and almost entirely ignored by a media fixated on Ukraine. In this episode we consider the communication and changing narratives around climate change, why an unscientific hyper-fatalism has set in with many activists, and what impact this might be having on younger generations terrified humanity itself is going extinct.    'We're heading Straight for a Demi-Apocalypse' - Emma Marris in The Atlantic  Climate anxiety in children - study in The Lancet Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability - IPCC report If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, find more resources to read, listen to and watch at John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com

In this episode we pick up our conversation from last week about transhumanism and how technology might redefine what it means to be human. We consider what place technology has in today's social narrative and whether it makes sense as Christians to automatically resist efforts to use cutting-edge science to reshape ourselves. Is the human body to be regarded as a Lego kit or a flawed masterpiece of art? How do we discern the Creator's original intention for our bodies in a world where they, like everything else, have been broken by the Fall? And how might it change our ethics in this area if we focused our attention on the resurrected Jesus as the firstfruits of a new kind of humanity? If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, find more resources to read, listen to and watch at John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com

Billions of dollars are currently being spent by a suite of private firms, mostly in Silicon Valley, pursuing radical research to enhance human capacities. These companies want to put off, or even defeat, aging, upload our minds to computers and give humans new abilities. Is this simply the next frontier for science and something to be welcomed, or should Christians hesitate to endorse research which appears to target our very created selves? What is the difference between using technology to tackle cancer versus tackling the aging process itself? And what is driving tech billionaires to spend their fortunes in this way? If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, find more resources to read, listen to and watch at John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com

To mark our arrival on the Premier network, we recap how Matters of Life and Death began and what we hope our intergenerational conversations might achieve. We then reflect on how the pandemic and its acceleration of digital technology has shaped so many of the issues we discuss, before briefly exploring three stories we will cover in future episodes (human enhancement, climate change nihilism, and end of life care). If you're new to the show, please do also scroll down the podcast feed to find the last two years of episodes we've already produced to have a listen. If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, find more resources to read, listen to and watch at John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com US based listeners can support this podcast financially. Head to https://premierinsight.org/mattersoflifeanddeath UK based listeners can support this podcast financially. Head to https://my.premier.org.uk/donate/donate-unbelievable-2021      

The Omicron variant has in a few short weeks almost taken over the pandemic. This highly transmissible version of covid is raising afresh complicated ethical questions about vaccine distribution and international solidarity between nations. How can we ascertain what is the common good during global crises affecting different countries in different ways? Does Christianity lend any intellectual backing to those who demand the state refrain from telling them how to live during a pandemic? And how might the differing legacies of authoritarian regimes in Europe and the dissenting pilgrims who founded America be playing a part in contemporary vaccine politics?   Note: This episode was recorded earlier in December so sadly the wildly explosive growth of Omicron since has meant some of the data and news we mention in passing is now quite out of date!   Also, at the end we have a special announcement about the future of Matters of Life and Death. Thanks for listening, and see you all in 2022.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we are resuming our conversation about infertility which begun in our previous episode. If you haven’t yet listened to that discussion, which focused on IVF, we’d recommend pausing this and going back to it as we will build on some of the ideas we explored last time. Today, we moved on to consider new ethical issues among other reproductive technologies. This is an area of medicine and science which is developing fast, sometimes faster than ethicists and regulators can keep up. What would it mean if we were able to genetically screen embryos to choose the most desirable traits before pregnancy? Is surrogacy, a growing alternative to IVF, a good option for couples or could it unintentionally become exploitative? And more broadly, should we as Christians be concerned by this rush to find technological solutions to our human frailties? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today we are delving into a complex and sensitive topic – infertility and IVF. The statistics suggest about one in seven couples will be unable to conceive without some kind of medical intervention, and the most popular form of reproductive treatment is in vitro fertilisation – IVF. Partly because infertility is such a painful time for many of those experiencing it, we don’t talk about it much. The same is also true of IVF, even though today in some places the procedure now accounts for as many as five per cent of all births. In this episode we wanted to consider how infertility interacts with both church culture and broader society, for good or ill, and then examine the complicated ethical questions raised by IVF treatment. Some links which may be helpful for Christians who are experiencing infertility: Saltwater and Honey - a collection of voices sharing their stories about infertility, miscarriage, childlessness and faith, plus lots of resources The Rhythm of Hope - an annual retreat and community for Christian couples Waiting for Children - a course which many churches around the UK run, including HTB who are running it online John's book Matters of Life and Death also has several chapters exploring infertility and reproductive technology. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we’re digging into assisted dying. A bill to legalise it in England has been introduced to parliament – what does it propose and how likely is it to actually become law? And zooming out a little, what are the social factors behind this renewed push to introduce a form of euthanasia to Britain, and in particular via the House of Lords of all places? Finally, we discuss what we could learn from Canada – which has brought in its own form of assisted suicide, with some alarming consequences, since we in the UK last debated it six years ago. You can find more information on Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying programme here: https://www.betterwaycampaign.co.uk/canada John's article unpacking the Meacher Bill is here: https://johnwyatt.com/2021/07/08/whats-wrong-with-the-assisted-dying-bill You can also find lots more material and resources on the topic on this page on his website: https://johnwyatt.com/medical-ethics/euthanasia-and-palliative-care See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today’s episode is a little hard to sum up – we begin by reflecting on the recent series of scandals around abusive church leaders, before going to discuss how contemporary culture thinks about sex and power (and in particular how they are exploited) in human relationships. And then we consider to what extent Christians should become as suspicious of our leaders and their relationships, as it seems wider society is. The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast (which we both strongly recommend) can be found here - https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/podcasts/rise-and-fall-of-mars-hill/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This episode was inspired by John’s new book – The Robot Will See You Now – which was published last week. It’s a multi-author volume he has co-edited with the theologian Stephen Williams, where they have gathered an array of theologians, academics and thinkers to explore how upcoming advances in robotics and artificial intelligence will revolutionise society, from healthcare to employment, from art to sex. And, perhaps more critically, how we as Christians should engage with and respond to these developments in cutting-edge technology. Excitingly, we have been able to invite our first guest onto Matters of Life and Death to discuss this - Nathan Mladin. Nathan is a researcher with the religion thinktank Theos and has written a chapter for The Robot Will See You Now. With his help we bat around some of the big ideas from the book and then look in more detail as his specialism - the concerning rise of 'surveillance capitalism'. Find out more about The Robot Will See You Now, including how to pre-order it, on John's website - https://johnwyatt.com/2021/07/01/the-robot-will-see-you-now/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.