Mark Keown

There is a great deal of interest in Caster Semenya, the person who won the 800m at the recent world champs. Word is out that she is an hermaphrodite or 'intersex' as some call it. This means she has both male and female reproductive organs. In some animal groups like slugs, creatures do not have separate sexes and they reproduce with both partners acting as 'male' or 'female.' The term is drawn from the Greek god Hermaphrotus, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite. In the case of Caster, what should happen? What is the right response to this situation? First, on a human level, Caster should be afforded complete integrity. She (using this for want of a better term) should be respected. She is human, made in the image of God, and to be shown grace and love. This has already been violated with her situation all over the public eye. Mind you in this world, this is unavoidable. The IAAF is naive if they think that the situation would not break. It would have been better t...

The results of a very interesting study have just been released. The study has interviewed 750 NZers on their morality. The question was this: 'I'm going to read you a list of issues. Regardless of whether or not you think it should be legal, for each one, please tell me whether you personally believe that in general it is morally acceptable or morally wrong. How about...?' The margin of error for the sample size of 750 for a 50% figure at the ‘95% confidence level’ is ± 3.6%. The results are fascinating. Asked whether certain things were morally acceptable here is a list of the outcomes: Divorce :81% (Men 78%/Women 83%) Sex Between and Unmarried Man and Woman : 77% (Men 79%/ Women 75%) Having a Baby Outside of Marriage : 71% Medical Research Using Stem Cells Obtained From Human Embryos : 63% (Men 69%/Women 57%) Homosexual Relations : 61% (Men 53%/Women 69%) Doctor Assisted Suicide : 55% Abortion : 55% (Men 54%/Women 56%) Gambling : 52% (Men 61%/Women 43%) Medical Testing o...