With all due respect - has anyone noted that Christianity promotes as 
central tenets, virgin birth and immaculate conception, ideas which require a gigantic leap of faith?  They then go on to 
speculate on the "beginning of life"........and the ethics of stem cell 
research.  Why is faith allowed to determine public policy on science?  I 
would think where a religion stands on these issues would be important only 
to its individual followers.  Religion in this mix is problematic because it requires that its followers do not question its authority.  Although many religious folks do think for themselves, too many are susceptible to direction.  Ray

Religions, countries, stem cell research
by diverdonreed
Fri Mar 23, 2007 at 06:59:33 AM PDT
Today, despite the efforts of a powerful few and their massive propaganda 
attacks, the truth about embryonic stem cell research is being heard.  The 
vast majority of the world's people, including our most religious families, 
have not been tricked.  We will not be cheated out of a chance to bring hope 
and healing to our loved ones who suffer.
Where does your religion stand on stem cell research?
diverdonreed's diary :: ::

RELIGION, COUNTRIES, AND STEM CELL RESEARCH
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some 
of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the 
time."-Abraham Lincoln
I remember when the Bush Administration tried to wipe out Somatic Cell 
Nuclear Transfer (SCNT, advanced stem cell research) in the United Nations. 
Robed priests and ideologues went with government officials to put pressure 
on small countries, trying to convince them to vote to ban the new 
research-but it did not work.
People listened to both sides, and made up their own minds.
There are still pockets of ignorance, of course, (and ignorance just means 
not-knowing, which is no sin) and the entrenched minority controls a vast 
communication apparatus; but the voices of opposition ring false, and are 
increasingly ignored.
Nobody really objects to a mistake, because we all make them. But to 
continue in error is more serious. Leaders who cling to a demonstrably false 
position become irrelevant.
The communities of faith are studying the issues. And one by one, they are 
making the right decision: that science must be allowed to use microscopic 
cells to help people.
I have no right to speak for them, of course; mine are the opinions of an 
outsider, and I intend no insult. If I describe the position of your faith 
wrongly, please let me know.
But for whatever small value it may bring, here is a sampling of  Earth's 
religions, and how they presently stand on  embryonic stem cell research.
Some still enthusiastically attack it, like my parents' second religion, the 
Southern Baptists, whose leadership officially regards stem cells as "the 
tiniest of humans".
But sometimes official beliefs do not match the membership, and opinions 
change over time. For instance, the Southern Baptists broke off from the 
rest of the Baptists during the Civil War-because they supported slavery-a 
position I doubt very much they hold today. In time, I feel, the Southern 
Baptists will moderate this stance as well.
Other Baptist divisions already have made the decision to support the 
research.
As Linda Swearingen, a member of First Baptist Church in Missouri, puts it: 
"I think we have a moral obligation to use our brains and our skills for the 
good of mankind, and...there's a difference between a few cells in a lab 
dish and a suffering child or adult."-Missourian News, October 29, 2006.
Some religions got it right early, like my birth family's first faith:
"Therefore, the 213th General Assembly...of the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.), affirms the use of...embryonic tissue for vital research...that 
may result in the restoring of health to those suffering from serious 
illness..."-Minutes, 2001, p. 849.
Every mainstream branch of the Judaic faith is a strong supporter of stem 
cell research.
"On behalf of the union for Reform Judaism whose more than 900 congregations 
encompass over 1.5 million (members)...I urge you to support the Stem Cell 
Research Enhancement Act... Therapeutic stem cell research holds out 
tremendous promise for finding a cure or treatment for conditions including 
cancer...leukemia, diabetes, Parkinsons..."-Mark J. Pelavin,  Union for 
Reform Judaism, July 13, 2006
The Church of the Latter Day Saints officially is still studying the 
issue-but all five Mormon Senators voted in favor of the Stem Cell Research 
Enhancement Act. Mormons believe the onset of human life begins only after 
implantation in a woman's womb, not in a dish of water, and LDS has a long 
and demonstrated history of supporting science.
Some religions are officially opposed, but their membership strongly 
supports it, like Catholicism, my wife and children's faith.
An increasingly powerful voice from within that religion says: " ..the 
majority of US Catholics ..support embryonic stem cell research... In a 2004 
Belden, Russonello & Stewart poll of Catholics, 72% of Catholic voters 
supported "allowing scientists to use stem cells obtained from very early 
human embryos to find cures for serious diseases such as Alzheimer's, 
diabetes and Parkinsons."-Francis Kissling, President, Catholics For a Free 
Choice, on the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007.
Across America and the world, communities of faith are supporting stem cell 
research.
"Episcopalians offered praise for the passage of rare bipartisan 
legislation... the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act...As stewards of 
creation, we are called to help mend and renew the world...the Episcopalian 
Church celebrates medical research as this research expands our knowledge of 
God's creation and empowers us to bring potential healing to those who 
suffer..."-Episcopalian News Service, May 25, 2005
The United Methodist Church said: "Be it further resolved, that the United 
Methodist 2004 General Conference go on record in support of those persons 
who wish to enhance medical research by donating their early embryos 
remaining after in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures have ended...." Book 
of Resolutions of the United Methodist Church-2004.
Some faiths come out as clearly in support as others have in opposition.
The Unitarian Universalist Assembly voted a social justice resolution to 
"Pass the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act".
The United Church of Christ said: "Be it further resolved (to) send a letter 
to the President of the United States urging approval of federal funding for 
embryonic stem cell research..."-General Synot XXIII Resolutions: Support 
for Federally Funded Research on Embryonic Stem Cells, October, 2001
Others cautiously voice approval, as did the Church of England, which makes 
few pronouncements, but does support both embryonic and somatic cell nuclear 
transfer research.
The California Council of Churches (1.5 million members) came out publicly 
in support of Proposition 71, which funds embryonic and SCNT research for 
cure.
The Institute for Progressive Christianity puts it bluntly: "Embryonic Stem 
Cell Research is Consistent with Christian Teaching"-Institute for 
Progressive Christianity Website, Frank Cocozzelli, Director,  October 31, 
2006.
Internationally?
Some countries with no predominant religion, like China, are plunging 
full-speed ahead, supporting the research with national, provincial, and 
entrepreneurial efforts.
Others, like India, have a conservative faith (Hinduism is probably the most 
popular) which would seem at first glance to be opposed. So is India 
ignoring stem cell research?
Listen to this:
"In 2001, President Bush restricted federal financing for stem cell 
research. The decision...provoked joy in India. The weekly newsmagazine 
India Today....spoke of a "new pot of gold" for Indian science and business. 
"If Indians are smart," the magazine said, American qualms about stem cell 
research "can open an opportunity to march ahead."
"Just four years later, this seems to have occurred....Indian biotechnology 
companies are expected to grow tenfold in the next five years, creating more 
than a million jobs. With more than 10,000 highly trained and cheaply 
available scientists, the country is one opf the leading biotechnology 
powers..."-New York Times, August 21, 2005
The world's second largest religion, Islam? (roughly 21% of the earth's 
population is muslim; only Christianity has more followers, roughly 33%.)
Because Muslins believe "ensoulment" does not happen until about 120 days of 
development, there appears to be no systematic opposition to embryonic stem 
cell research in a Petri dish, and Islam has a long history of supporting 
science: beginning centuries ago with astronomy and mathematics. Islamic 
countries like Singapore are building their economic base around biomedicine 
in general, and embryonic stem cell research in particular.
Buddhism, being more of an individualist religion, does not appear to have 
an official statement on the research. However, here are some comments from 
the Dalai Lama, regarded by many as an official spokesman for many forms of 
Buddhism:
"On the questions about stem cell research, I am thinking about the issue of 
when an embryo becomes sentient from the Buddhist point of view...how do we 
understand at what point consciousness enters the embryo? ...a fertilized 
egg may naturally (pass from the body) and never become a human being. That 
is why I feel that for the formation of life, for something to actually 
become a human, something more is needed than simply a fertilized egg...
"If you as scientists have a sincerely compassionate motivation, and a sense 
of responsibility for the long-term implications, then carry out your 
work..."---"Scientific Perspectives from His Holiness the Dalai Lama", 
Mandala, a Tibetan Buddhist Journal, March, 2003
Whatever our faith, we all love our families, and want them safe.
To the best of my knowledge, every religion places healing as a paramount 
value.
And that is why, I believe, every faith-based community will, sooner or 
later, support embryonic stem cell research.
P.S. Want something to do? Write John Sununu of New Hampshire, or Bob Casey 
of Pennsylvania, one of whom, I hope, will give us the 67th vote in the 
Senate, to override President Bush's expected veto of the Stem Cell Research 
Enhancement Act. There are other possibilities, but those are the two I 
would think are the strongest possibilities.
  Mormons believe the onset of human life begins only after implantation in 
a woman's womb, not in a dish of water, and LDS has a long and demonstrated 
history of supporting science.
 An interesting bit of Catholic history (0 / 0)
In the 1960s, Catholic theologians were debating whether IUDs were, in fact, 
abortion. The general consensus was that "pregnancy" began at implantation, 
since the majority of fertilized eggs never implant, anyway. (And if you 
split a cleaved embryo, you get two or four embryos!)
That debate was totally squelched, and now the debate is (in at least some 
extreme circles) whether birth control is, in fact, abortion. Is it a game 
of numbers?
" ..the majority of US Catholics ..support embryonic stem cell research
You bet they do! It's a culture of life! Like avoiding war, taking care of 
seniors, and the poor.


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