Acceptable Genes?

Religious Traditions and Genetically Modified Foods

Conrad G. Brunk, Harold Coward, Conrad G. Brunk, Harold Coward

• Publisher: SUNY Press
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781438428963
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion & Science

Modern biotechnology has surpassed science fiction with such feats as putting fish genes in tomatoes to create a more cold-resistant crop. While the environmental and health concerns over such genetically modified foods have been the subject of public debate, religious and spiritual viewpoints have been given short shrift. This book seeks to understand the moral and religious attitudes of groups within pluralistic societies whose traditions and beliefs raise for them unique questions about food and dietary practice. What questions are there for kosher Jews, halal Muslims, and vegetarian Hindus about food products containing transgenes from prohibited sources? How do these foods impact the cultural practices and spiritual teachings of indigenous peoples? Concerns from the above traditions as well as Christianity, Buddhism, Chinese religion, and ethical vegetarianism are included. Contributors look at the ethical context of each tradition and also include information from focus groups. This enlightening work concludes with recommendations for the labeling of genetically modified foods.

Table of contents

• Acceptable Genes?
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. Genetics and Genetically Modifi ed Organisms
• 2. Ethical Perspectives on Food Biotechnology
• 3. Does Vegetarianism Preclude Eating GM Foods?
• 4. “When You Plow the Field,Your Torah Is with You: ”Genetic Modifi cation and GM Food in the Jewish Tradition(s)
• 5. Some Christian Refl ectionson GM Food
• 6. Genetically Modifi ed Foods and Muslim Ethics
• 7. A Hundred Autumns to Flourish: Hindu Attitudes to Genetically Modifi ed Food
• 8. The Karma of Genetically Modifi ed Food: A Buddhist Perspective
• 9. “So That You May Have It with No Harm”: Changing Attitudes toward Food in Late Imperial China
• 10. Born from Bears and Corn: Why Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Beliefs Matter in the Debate on GM Foods
• 11. Regulatory and Innovation Implications of Religious and Ethical Sensitivities concerning GM Food
• Contributors
• Index