No - that's politics using religion as an excuse - again.

Quoting rayilynlee <[log in to unmask]>:

> Friday, November 30, 2007
> Should Religous Beliefs Dictate Stem Cell Legislation?
> ARGUING WITH THE CHURCH: Catholic Beliefs to Dictate Stem Cell Program?
> by Don C. Reed www.stemcellbattles.com
>
> Religious freedom is a fundamental American right, no matter how foolish
> that faith may seem to others. If I wanted to worship goldfish, I have the
> legal right to do so, without being persecuted-but do I have the right to
> impose Goldfish Worship on others?
>
> My family's faith (though not my own) is Catholic. Should that religion's
> beliefs be required of Baptists, Episcopalians, atheists, Muslims,
> Presbyterians, Jews, agnostics, Sikhs and Buddhists?
>
> The Catholic Church is trying to force to force its stem cell research
> policies onto everyone.
>
> This is not a casual attempt, but a world-wide effort, beginning with the
> Vatican, which recently opined that supporting embryonic stem cell research
> is an excommunicable offense. Think what that means-that I should literally
> be condemned to Hell for all eternity for my opinions on medical research?
>
> To me, that is as nonsensical-and cruel-as the religious belief that
> anesthesia in childbirth was against God's wishes, because it said in the
> Bible that "In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children."
>
> Personally, I have more faith in God than that. For me, the reason God gave
> us a brain is to think and solve problems. But that is my opinion, and I
> would not attempt to enshrine it into law.
>
> The reason America separates church and state is because there can never be
> agreement on something unprovable. How can God be even described, unless we
> can bring Him/Her/It into the room with us? And if we cannot describe God
> without arguing, how can we ever hope to agree on religious legislation?
>
> But down through history, the Church has been a power structure, as well as
> a source of comfort and wisdom. And when it steps into politics, it must not
> be allowed to go unchallenged.
>
> If religious officialdom forces a law, that affects us all. If you drive
> into a town where the Churches "persuaded" local officials to require all
> stores to close on Sundays, and you need to buy a quart of milk, you are out
> of luck.
>
> And if you live in a state or a country-or a world--- where stem cell
> research was declared illegal.
>
> In the United Nations, Catholic priests accompanied Bush administration
> officials as they attempted to impose a world-wide ban on SCNT (Somatic Cell
> Nuclear Transfer, sometimes called therapeutic cloning) an advanced form of
> stem cell research.
>
> Nationally, the Catholic Church's and other Religious Right organizations
> routinely bully and terrify legislators, utterly controlling the Republican
> Party's stem cell policy, preventing the passage of even such a moderate and
> mild law as the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act.
>
> In state after state, the Catholic Church is the center of the anti-research
> movement.
>
> In Missouri, the church passed out lawn signs opposing Amendment 2 (which
> said Missouri should not be denied any federally-approved medical research),
> and let churches be offices for groups which passed out plastic fetuses to
> children at county fairs, saying this is what embryonic stem cell research
> is all about.
>
> In California, Catholic churches distributed glossy full-color fliers
> opposing the science supported by Proposition 71-and every California church
> receives anti-embryonic research materials routinely, for the priests to
> intone from the pulpit, and for parishioners to take home with them.
>
> In Michigan, the Church mailed 504,000 anti-research CDs (think of the
> money-a church which takes a vow of poverty somehow can afford to burn half
> a million CDs and postage and padded envelopes for one state mailing alone)
> to the homes of Catholic families.
>
> In Texas, meetings of the legislature are held late at night with little or
> no public notice-so the Catholic anti-science view can be drummed into the
> heads of legislators without opposition.
>
> And now, with the experimental "success" of an alternative stem cell
> technique, their campaign moves into high gear.
>
> Led by the Catholic Church, anti-research forces will try to use the
> experimental skin cell technique (Induced Pluripotent Stem cells, or IPSc)
> to shut down embryonic and SCNT research.
>
> Do I exaggerate?
>
> To see the actual open letter from the New York State Catholic Conference
> revealing the Church's intent to control stem cell policy and read the rest
> of this article, please go to www.stemcellbattles.com
> Don C. Reed
>
> Rayilyn Brown
> Board Member AZNPF
> Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation
> [log in to unmask]
>
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