Freakin' with nature - embryo research
abracad, · Categories: in the news, science and spirituality, spiritual politicsThe Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, currently on it way to becoming English law, could pose a serious threat to the concept of sanctity of life. Among other things it allows babies to be created that have the right characteristics to serve as donors in order to aid sick siblings. It may also permit the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos. All in the name of "research".
Of course anyone who has seen a loved one endure pain and suffering would welcome any efforts to cure disease or alleviate its effects. But is there some limit that should apply to such research?
Scientists naturally wish to push the frontiers of knowledge ever further. But scientists do not always consider the moral implications of their work, eg it was scientists that created nuclear weapons.
From a Spiritual perspective it could be argued that anything we do is part of God's will, else we wouldn't be able to do it. We possess free will, and if we have developed sufficient knowledge and skill to pursue a particular pathway then who can say such pathway is "wrong"?
But in possessing free will we also possess the capacity for error. And some errors are less reversible and more catastrophic than others.
Alongside our free will we are also blessed with a sense of morality, the ability to consider the potential benefits and costs, opportunities and risks, of a proposed action.
We must engage this moral capacity carefully lest we embark upon a slippery slope towards a Hitleresque future where only the physically and mentally perfect have the right to live. And who would decide what was perfect. Would they be the blue-eyed Aryan blonds, or would they have some other characteristic?
Stephen Hawking and Helen Keller would have been denied the right to life to name but two. And anyone who has cared for the disabled will know how much they can still enjoy life and give pleasure to those around them. What right has one living being to deny the existence of another?
A further nightmarish scenario is where a "lower" form of being is bred to carry out the drudgery of manual labor leaving the "superior" master race to enjoy a life of luxury.
Too many countries already de-value life with their overly liberal attitude to abortion in which countless viable babies are legally and routinely slaughtered.
The bottom line must be the absolute recognition of the rights of the potential life forms being proposed for experiment.
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Filed in: in the news, science and spirituality, spiritual politics
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