Computer Science / Software Engineering != Computer Programming.

Software engineers actually do write applications that can kill people, or cause much harm otherwise (be it financial, etc). And we do have to conform to standards and regulations, whether government or corporate. Unfortunately, the discipline is so new there aren't nearly as many, or as well-defined, or as well-enforced. But eventually, when more and more systems fail because of poor software, software development will need to be formally recognized as an engineering discipline. Or we can do that now, and prevent bad software from happening in the first place.

Just because software isn't tangible doesn't mean it isn't critical to the well-being of man-kind.