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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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn