On Sunday, September 2, 2007, at 12:00 PM, rayilynlee wrote: > An Unholy Alliance: How Neoconservatives and the Religious Right Have > Joined > Forces to Fight Stem Cell Research. > > For the past twenty-two years the Labor Day weekend has been a bit > difficult > for me. As someone confined to a wheelchair from LMG muscular dystrophy > (first being diagnosed in 1985) I watch (and contribute to) the MDA > Telethon. While offering me hope that others are committed to curing > the > forty plus forms of this degenerative disease, I cannot also help but > being > reminded of those who evoke a rigid form of faith in order to prevent > embryonic stem cell research-an avenue that may one day let folks like > me > walk again. > Frank Cocozzelli's diary :: :: from the Daily KOS > > Neuromuscular disease is often an ordeal that just doesn't adversely > affect > the patient, but his friends and family. To provide you with some > context, > let me explain what my family goes through to keep my law practice > going. > > Monday through Friday my wife wakes up at 5 A.M. and gets herself > ready for > work. An hour later she wakes me up then dresses me for court. As > since my > body does not mostly move of it own volition, she must roll me back and > forth to get my pants on, lift me onto a slide board to get me into my > wheelchair, lift my arms to get my shirt on and then knot my tie. Then > after > she gives me breakfast, she attends to getting our kids ready for > school. > She does all this before working an eight-hour day. I usually leave for > court shortly thereafter driven either by my father my uncle or Chris, > my > driver. > > While this is a difficult routine, I still am more fortunate than most > others with degenerative diseases. Many others have no job to support > themselves, family to help them or even a place to call their own. > > One morning during the summer of 2000 my wife was getting me dressed > for > court. We heard a promising report on the Today Show that > then-President > Bill Clinton was going to allow for the federal funding of embryonic > stem > cell research. In December 1998 my neurologist had just told us of this > then-recent discovery and how it offered so much hope not just for me, > but > for countless others suffering from different diseases and > disabilities. He > told us that the research was not a guarantee, but at least a real > hope for > possible treatments. > > But this hope was dashed when the U.S. Supreme Court's decision > essentially > handed the presidency to George W. Bush. As a candidate, Bush had > expressed > his hostility to the research, playing to a religious right faction > composed > of Opus Dei Catholics and fundamentalist Protestants (I would later > come to > learn that much of this opposition has been organized by > neoconservatives, > using their several think tanks to hone their message). And as I told > my > pastor back in 2003, it broke my heart that my own church officially > opposes > medical research. I told him that I believe that Jesus, who lived His > whole > life on Earth as a religious Jew would not oppose (all four branches of > Judaism support the research; Talmudic scholar Adin Steinsaltz went as > far > to state, ''We believe that mankind is given not only the permission > but the > admonition to make the world better.''). > > But what I did not understand at the time was how the opposition to > embryonic stem cell research was being organized and mostly driven by > the > very same neoconservatives who helped push this nation into the poorly > chosen war in Iraq. Too many of us just don't understand that the > neoconservative movement is just not about foreign policy, but domestic > policy. The battle over embryonic stem cell research simply emphasizes > that > point. > > As many of you know, I am a director of a newly formed think tank, the > Institute for Progressive Christianity ("IPC"). IPC defines its > mission as > follows: > To further awareness and understanding that the progressive tradition > is > rooted in core Christian gospel values, and to relate that tradition to > personal faith, public policy, family, and the common good. > And this is IPC's vision: > To create a national Institute for progressive Christian values. The > Institute will serve as an educational facility to conduct research, > seek to > affect and advance policy, educate the public, and influence every > sphere of > American public life, including politics, academia, arts, and the > church. > To this end, Eve Herold, the author of last year's book, Stem Cell > Wars: > Inside Stories from the Frontlines, and I have written a White Paper > for IPC > entitled, "An Unholy Alliance: How Neoconservatives and the Religious > Right > Have Joined Forces to Fight Stem Cell Research." Here is our opening > premise: > Representatives and the Senate took up the issue of stem cell research > once > again, re-introducing a bill that had already been vetoed once by > President > Bush. The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act would have expanded U.S. > federal funding (which currently applies to only 21 embryonic stem cell > lines) to include about 200 new and superior cell lines. This year's > version > of the bill was passed in the Senate on April 11, but it fell four > votes > short of a veto-proof majority. Then the bill passed Congress by a > vote of > 253 - 174, only to be met once again with the slash of Bush's pen. The > president has stood stubbornly by his anti-research policy against the > wishes of the Congress, the Senate, and a large majority of the > American > people. His reason: the destruction of embryos, even for life-saving > research, "crosses a moral line" that shouldn't be crossed. This, > however, > is not the consensus among all religious faiths, let alone among > mainstream > Christians; it is a narrow proposition held mostly by neo-orthodox > Christians. The concept that embryonic research is off-limits is being > furthered not just by religious conservatives, but also by their often > nonreligious neoconservative allies. > Click here to download and read the document in PDF format. IPC is > working > on a hyperlink to the story for those who are unable to download the > document. > > Please feel free to give me your thoughts on the piece. > > Rayilyn Brown (I did not write this article, just posting it) > Board Member AZNPF > Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation > [log in to unmask] > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn