Religious conflicts of interest

To the Editor

I welcome ANZJP’s recent articles on assisted suicide and euthanasia. When reading papers emphasising there is no need for assisted suicide or euthanasia I have wondered whether writers may have been influenced by their religious beliefs. On enquiry the Journal’s Board have advised me that there currently are no specific obligations on writers to disclose religious conflicts of interest.

Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, former head of the Human Genome Project, and possessor of other impeccable scientific credentials, has been criticised, along with the prestigious journal Nature, for seemingly allowing his faith to influence his objectivity, making statements that those not sharing his values may find bizarre (Harris, 2012). To illustrate subjective influences on a great scientific mind, I found a YouTube lecture where he discusses his conversion from atheism to Christianity. In the lecture, he states: ‘it was convenient being an atheist – not being answerable to anybody … surrounded by lots of temptations and not having to worry too much about the consequences’ (Collins, 2008). Consider objectively the question: is an atheist not answerable to anyone if, for example, he has an affair with his neighbour – not to mention criminal behaviour?

Covert religious bias may grow in importance as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse progresses. Will colleagues use the Journal to defend the indefensible actions of their cherished institutions while waving the flag of science? Australia and New Zealand are countries recently founded on Christian values, including opposition to assisted suicide and euthanasia, while adopting more passive stances on childhood sexual abuse. Now we are secular with many competing religious ideologies. In scientific journals, the neutral secular and objective position is to be preferred. Writers should not be allowed to covertly impose their values on others under the guise of science.

Authors have rights to privacy but reasonable requirements for declarations of religious or other value conflicts of interest for relevant papers should be developed. Readers should be able to take potential biases into consideration.