Google is pouring vast sums of money into research aimed at offering humanity, within a few years, the chance to modify its own DNA—and that of future generations.
The Bible, written when nothing was known of genetics, can guide us as we think through disability, illness, and immortality. But first we must ask: what is Google's intention? To sell customized genetic engineering to the wealthy and create a "flawless" human being? To photocopy an ideal template of man or woman, stripped of all surprise? The Bible reminds us that welcoming a child means welcoming something far greater—being shaken by a stranger, accepting the smallest, the last, whether his name is David, Joseph, or Jesus.
Genetic experts want the opposite: to eliminate surprise, to reproduce whatever model is fashionable today, to freeze evolution itself. Two visions collide—the wealth and dominance of the rich against the humble acceptance of fragility and disability.
The Bible teaches us constantly that human beings become fully human through relationship with fragility, not through the destruction of the weak. It is not a question of opposing research that eases suffering, but of resisting the deception that superior human beings can be designed.
About thirty Americans are now reckoning with their choice to use sperm from a donor with a high IQ and an athletic build. They are suing the laboratory because the donor turned out to have schizophrenia. Suddenly, these consumers are demanding after-sales service for the misfortune of children they no longer wish to accept. "Whoever welcomes these little ones welcomes me," Jesus said.
To welcome the surprise child means to trust the Holy Spirit to guide every moment of our earthly lives, to trust in Him who knows every hair on our heads—and therefore every gene, every thought of our being.
Jean-Christoph Parisot, O&L 211/2016