Ethical Considerations 
Trowell: Speaking for the religious approach, I can find 
little basis for disagreement with much of Bronowski’s humanist 
point of view. There are, of course, some other things we should 
like to add for those who voluntarily choose to be associated 
with us in Christian religious belief, things like worship and the 
sacraments, which to us are a source of strength and guidance. 
But when we talk about these basic ethical considerations which 
concern all humanity, I feel we are essentially in agreement. 
We may all have misgivings because we don’t know enough 
about the genetical basis for planning; also there are many 
other aspects, psychological, social and religious, which we have 
barely considered. Speaking for my own, the Anglican Church, 
I think we feel that religious ethics must evolve, even progress, 
although we look to certain great sources for help in this 
matter, religious sources such as the Scriptures and the tradition 
of the whole Christian Church. 
Mackay: Dr. Trowell would scarcely have made that 
remark had this been a group of German biologists of the Nazi 
variety. Certainly Christianity is itself a humanitarian and 
humanist view of the world. It does indeed say more than 
those who are humanists but not Christians, but in so far as it 
is a humanist view of the world, there is a great area of overlap 
with others who call themselves humanists. To that extent, 
of course, one should expect collaboration and co-operation to 
be possible and vital. But the important thing is to be prepared 
for genuinely creative clashes in fearless honesty when issues 
arise on which neither the Christian nor the humanist “hand- 
books”’ have a clearly worked-out answer. One such issue was 
slavery, which Bronowski mentioned. And in view of his 
remarks it is only fair to point out that it was Wilberforce, one 
of the enthusiastic Evangelicals of the Clapham sect—Wilber- 
force the Christian, not the scientist—who was the moving spirit 
in the abolition of slavery. Here, as it happened, their Christian 
religion brought them to see a need for humanitarian reform 
that none of the scientists or theologians of previous generations 
had urged with any force. 
But surely it is pointless, as well as irrational, to seek credit 
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