Church Policies on Science and Medicine

This is a continuing collection of LDS Church policies on various science and medical issues. This post will be available on the sidebar, and will contain links to the forthcoming policy statements. Since I do not have ready access to the Church Handbook of Instructions, those of you who do should feel free to comment if current policy contains nuances not covered here.


Beginning of Life and Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Birth Control

Euthanasia and Prolonging Life

Infertility Issues

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Intelligent Design Trial is a Hoot

I've got to tell you, as a non-lawyer following the Dover, PA intelligent design trial, it sure looks like the wheels are coming off of the defense. Here is the latest from today.

1. Although Michael Behe claimed as a witness that his book, Darwin's Black Box, received rigorous peer revew, more details are emerging about those reviews. At least one reviewer didn't actually read the book, and others were highly critical of it. (Details here. Also see here for other "peer reviewed" intelligent design publications.

Peer review of a book and peer review of a scientific journal are two different things.

2. After having denied saying that evolution ought to be countered with creationism, a former school board member has changed his story in the face of video footage of him saying such a thing. I'm no lawyer, but this seems important because it goes to the issue of whether the school board had secular intent.

3. Finally, you have to see this. On a C-SPAN program, the lead lawyer for the defense corrected a Discovery Institute big-wig who claimed that the DI has never advocated teaching intelligent design in public schools!

It's like a barrel of monkeys.

If you want more information, see this former post. Follow the links and you can find court transcripts.

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Exorcism 101

The latest Newsweek has an article on the Catholic Church and exorcisms.

In an effort to add a patina of scientific validity to the ancient practice, which usually involves physical restraint and screaming prayers, last week the church began offering bona fide medical training to its exorcists to help them distinguish between psychological and pathological ailments and possession by the Devil. The class, called Exorcism and Prayers of Deliverance, which began on Oct. 13 at Rome's Athenaeum Pontificium Regina Apostolorium, features mental-health doctors who purport to show which valid medical symptoms can account for those previously thought to be Satan's work. According to Prof. Carlo Climati, one of the course instructors, "With proper scientific study, priests and bishops should be better prepared to distinguish and meet their real foe, the rise of satanic worship." Dr. Scott Lilienfield, professor of psychology at Emory University in Atlanta and an expert in exorcism, disagrees: "Exorcism is the most dangerous hoax in treating mental illness," he says.

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I would be interested to know the frequency of exorcisms in the Catholic Church. Our own theology and history certainly contain such things but either they don't happen often, are little spoken of, or both. However, I am not aware of any kind of institutional approach to the subject--how one would recognize the influence of evil spirits, and so forth. I doubt that missionaries, for example, encounter evil spirits much but they sure do encounter the mentally ill!

History of the Church Vol 1:82-83 describes an occasion where Joseph Smith cast an evil spirit out of Newel Knight. This became known as the first miracle of the Church.

In more recent times, I found a couple of interesting tidbits. The first involved Harold B. Lee:

Elder Lee had a depressing experience when he was called on to cast out an evil spirit. There was a stultifying feeling in the room that oppressed the apostle as he laid his hands on the woman's head and, through priesthood authority, rebuked the evil spirit in her. The terror that the incident produced is hinted at in Elder Lee's diary. "I trembled like a leaf," wrote he, "and my hair seemed to almost be as pin pricks." This seems to have been the first time in Elder Lee's ministry when he was directly exposed to the power of the adversary. It was not an imaginary thing, but was something real and powerful and beyond his individual ability to control. Intermittently during the remainder of his ministry, Elder Lee was exposed to the power of Satan, revealed in changing forms and in different degrees of intensity. It was a power that he detested but, at the same time, he respected because of the dangerous influences it exerted. (Harold B. Lee: Man of Vision, Prophet of God)

Then there is this experience of Spencer W. Kimball:

On October 19 [1946] , he drove south to a stake conference assignment in Pleasant Grove, Utah, and spent the night with relatives. He awoke in his room alone. There was a strange foreboding feeling. He turned a light on, picked up a book. But he felt something horrible in the room. "I felt almost as if I were being enveloped and taken over." He remembered his grandfather Heber's vision of a great rush of evil spirits "who foamed and gnashed their teeth." Time stopped. As his grandfather had, Spencer broke into a sweat.

"It seemed that an unknown enemy was trying to destroy me. He was unseen but very real. I was not afraid in the ordinary sense of the word. It was a deep fear of the unknown, something or somebody one could not wrestle with. It was bleak and black and fearsome. I sweat and fought and fought and sweat and then remembered the temple program and for the first time in my life invoked the power of the Priesthood in that particular way and relief came to me. As I pondered over it for days and relived it in a measure, I wondered if I was marked for destruction by the enemy of all righteousness-if I might be getting into a program which would upset the plans of the god of this world."

He finally fell back asleep, then woke at 7:00 A.M. exhausted, "not wholly my usual self." (Spencer W. Kimball: Twelfth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

(Heber Kimball's experience in England, alluded to above, is another dramatic story that I won't quote here.)

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Polio in the U.S.

via MSNBC:

Four children in an Amish community in Minnesota have contracted the polio virus — the first known infections in the U.S. in five years, state health officials said Thursday.

Dr. Harry Hull, the state epidemiologist, said the cases do not pose a threat to the general public because most people have been vaccinated against polio and are unlikely to have contact with Amish people. But he said he expects to find more infections within the Amish community because some of its members refuse immunizations on religious grounds.

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Himalayan Earthquakes Overdue

According to an article in the New York Times, the relative seismic calm in the Himalayas of recent years is not the norm.

Great earthquakes - magnitude 8 or larger - occurred in the Himalayas in 1803, 1833, 1897, 1905, 1934 and 1950. But in the last half century, the region has been relatively quiet, with no earthquakes anywhere near the one with a magnitude of 7.6 that struck northern Pakistan on Saturday.

That calm may have given a false sense of security to growing populations living there.

"Those of us in the business knew we were overdue," said Peter Molnar, a professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado. Dr. Molnar was a co-author of a 2001 article in the journal Science that looked at the history of Himalayan earthquakes and how much tectonic stress is building up as the Indian subcontinent crashes into Asia.

The Science article warned, "Several lines of evidence show that one or more great earthquakes may be overdue in a large fraction of the Himalaya, threatening millions of people in that region."

...The Indian subcontinent slides northward about 1.6 inches a year as part of the natural movement of continental plates. Half of that motion is absorbed farther to the north in Asia, but the other half goes to pushing up the Himalayan mountains, continually building up strain in the rocks.

Obviously such information is of little use to the victims or the rescue efforts, but it does provide perspective.

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Church History and the 1918 Flu

On November 19, 1918, the day of Joseph F. Smith's death, the country was in the midst of the 1918 influenza pandemic. That day, the following notice was published:

At a meeting of the general authorities of the Church and representatives of the family this morning, it was unanimously decided that in view of existing health conditions in the community, it would be improper to hold public funeral services for the late President Joseph F. Smith. This decision, though regretfully adopted, is a measure of prudence which will meet with general approval, we feel sure. Such services as shall be held at the time of interment in the city cemetery will therefore be brief. At a later date, however, announcement of which will be duly made, memorial services will be held throughout the whole Church for the beloved leader whose loss we so sincerely, but perforce silently, mourn. ANTHON H. LUND, CHARLES W. PENROSE, Of the First Presidency [1]. (Messages of the First Presidency Vol. 3)

A month later on December 20, the First Presidency issued this notice:

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To meet a general desire among the Latter-day Saints, Sunday afternoon, Dec. 22, 1918 is designated as a special time for fasting and prayer by all members of the Church, for the arrest and speedy suppression by Divine power of the desolating scourge that is passing over the earth.

The Saints are exhorted to meet, fasting, as families in their respective homes (public assemblies being postponed for a time), and supplicate our Heavenly Father for the speedy relief of His people and of all who are suffering from this great affliction. Presidents of Stakes and Bishops of Wards are directed to convey this announcement to all the members under their supervision. HEBER J. GRANT, ANTHON H. LUND, CHARLES W. PENROSE, First Presidency. (Messages of the First Presidency Vol. 3)

In commentary on the above notice James Clark writes:

The writer of these notes was nearly nine years old when this special fast day was announced. His memory is still vivid as to the devastating effects of the "desolating scourge" of influenza in nearly every family in his community. Only his father, among a family of eight, remained on his feet. His mother, his brother and himself, and four sisters were helpless from its effects. Only the fasting and prayer called for in the message below and the power of the priesthood saved the author and his family from this "desolating scourge."

During this time pulic meetings, including Church meetings, were not held. The First Presidency authorized resumption of weekly meetings beginning January 5, 1919, but the April General Conference, with its "solemn assembly", was postponed until May.

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Notes:

1. Apparently the First Presidency continued to function for several days in the absence of Joseph F. Smith.

Following the death of President Joseph F. Smith, on November 19, and his burial in the City Cemetery, November 22, 1918, the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was disorganized and the Council of Twelve Apostles became the presiding quorum of the Church.(Improvement Era Vol 22, Jan 1919 No. 3)

Current Church doctrine is that upon the death of the President of the Church, the First Presidency is automatically dissolved and the Quorum of the Twelve become the governing body, with the President of the Quorum of the Twelve as the leader.

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Influenza (Avian and 1918)

Six years ago I read Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It, by Gina Kolata. Last week represented a significant step in understanding where the 1918 flu came from and why it was so deadly. Tara Smith of Aetiology summarizes that story here. (If you are interested in infectious diseases, keep an eye on Aetiology.)

She has also done a series of posts dealing with avian influenza. Check them out.

Day 1: History of Pandemic Influenza.

Day 2: Our adventures with avian flu.

Day 3: Challenges to pandemic preparedness

Day 4: 1918 influenza virus reconstructed

Day 5: How ready are we, and what can YOU do?

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STD's Among the Nephites?

Earlier this week the Nobel Prize for medicine or physiology went to Barry Marshall and J. Robin Warren for the discovery that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori can cause ulcers. Their hypothesis was not well received at first, but they continued to build support for it--including by Marshall fulfilling Koch's Postulates on himself by swallowing the bacteria, giving himself gastritis, and then curing himself with antibiotics.

About half of the world's population is infected with the bacteria; only a small percentage move on to develop gastritis, ulcers, or cancer. Carl Zimmer explains that H. pylori is a useful tool for investigating human migrations. Changes in the genome (micro-evolution, if you will) ought to correspond with the movement of humans.

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The Molecular Ecology article that Zimmer links to is a review article about this kind of investigation. Not all microbes are well-suited for this kind of study, but in addtion to H. pylori another microbe that is useful is Human Papillomavirus (HPV), particularly the sexually transmitted ones. HPV types 16 and 18 are notorious for their involvement in cervical cancer. Researchers have looked at these HPVs around the world and found that they cluster into groups that are consistent with the current view of human migration. (Origin in Africa, movement to Europe and Asia, and from Asia into the Americas.)

This paragraph in the article caught my eye:

A closer look at isolates from Native Americans also revealed unexpected results. Although an association between isolates from Greenland Eskimos and lineage E [Euoropean] was not surprising due to the proximity between Greenland and Europe, the same link was observed in many isolates from Navajo, Pueblo and Amazon Indians! These latter ethnic groups originated from North Asiatic emigrants via the Bering Strait and should therefore be associated with the AA [Asian/American] lineage. Even more surprising was the isolation of the Af1 [African 1] lineage from one Inuit and the Af2 [African 2] lineage from two Navajos. However, despite these discrepancies and possible [lateral gene transfer], the population structure of HPV-18 viruses does largely mirror human migrations reliably and shows reasonable congruence between independent genes within and between subtypes, unlike many other viruses.

Now there are probably ten very good explanations for why the African lineages have shown up in Native Americans. But of course, given our belief in the Book of Mormon, any hints of pre-Columbian contact with the Old World are of special interest.

Overall, the human and microbial genetics support an Asian origin of Native Americans. It would be irresponsible to draw any conclusions about these HPV anomalies--especially any about support for the Book of Mormon. I only bring it up as a matter of interest.

Having said that, I would pay money to hear someone get up in church and say, "There is evidence that the Nephites brought a sexually transmitted disease to America."

(The original research paper is available here.)

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