Article June 12, 1995 Issue

Bioethics conference presentation

On April 5, 1995, M. Victor Westberg, Manager of Committees on Publication for The Mother Church, appeared at the bioethics conference on "Rights of Children to Make Health Care Decisions." He was part of a four-member panel on "Religious and Cultural Treatment Decisions in Children." The conference was sponsored by the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, and the invitation was issued by Arthur Caplan, Ph.D., director of the center. Here is the essence of Mr. Westberg's talk.

Bible stories for centuries have been a staple of our Western civilization. They not only speak to how children make adult-like decisions, but show how they are capable, by their example, of imparting a greater sense of dominion over adversity for everyone.

We're all familiar with the story of David and Goliath, how a "mere" boy stood up to the champion of the Philistines, the foe of Israel. What I most like about this story is that the young David worked out the life-and-death challenge he faced with the tools of a "child," a sling and stone, rather than the adult tools—armor and sword—that King Saul wanted to give him. And won! Where no adult could have.

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