Text 13128, 103 rader
Skriven 2005-05-31 06:53:00 av THURSTON ACKERMAN (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av ALAN HESS
Ärende: stem cell theology
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AH>Beware of Stem Cell Theology

AH>By Jerome Groopman
AH>Post
AH>Sunday, May 29, 2005; B07

AH>At many pivotal moments in American history, leaders have turned to the Bibl
AH>to justify their actions. The Founding Fathers, at the advent of the
AH>Revolution, inscribed the Liberty Bell with a line from Leviticus proclaimin
AH>freedom throughout the land. Martin Luther King Jr. thundered that he had go
AH>to the mountaintop and, like Moses, was ready to show his people the promise
AH>land. Church and state are separated by law, but our country's visionaries
AH>assume a mantle of morality by invoking the priests and prophets of Scriptur

AH>Last week, in opposing a bill that would allow discarded early embryos to be
AH>used as sources of stem cells, House Republican leader Tom DeLay cast himsel
AH>with the originators of the three major monotheistic faiths. "An embryo," he
AH>said, "is a person, a distinct internally directed, self-integrating human
AH>organism. We were all at one time embryos ourselves. So was Abraham. So was
AH>Muhammad. So was Jesus of Nazareth."

AH>Secular scientists are often quick to dismiss faith as having any relevance
AH>their work, but in fact much of our moral code, personal and civil, is roote
AH>in religious tradition. The Bible and its commentaries are a wealth not only
AH>ethical imperatives but also of insights into character and behavior. It is
AH>foolish or naive to ignore this fact.

AH>But it is also foolish, and wrong, to use the founders of Judaism, Islam and
AH>Christianity as foils to support the current administration's views on press
AH>moral questions in medicine. It demonstrates a remarkable ignorance about th
AH>diversity of religious thought concerning when life begins, when it ends and
AH>what makes it sacred.

AH>DeLay and others who oppose stem cell research on theological grounds might
AH>surprised to learn that it is not Abraham but Adam whose life and circumstan
AH>are interpreted by Jewish and Muslim thinkers when they assess the morality
AH>this science. In Genesis, God breathes into a lump of clay to form the first
AH>man, Adam. Thus, life is seen as beginning when organs, particularly the lun
AH>develop, since it is then that the vital spirit arrives. The Talmud states t
AH>before 40 days, what is in the uterus is akin to water, not a human being.
AH>DeLay would do well to return to the Bible, because rabbis and imams who rea
AH>it as their source of inspiration would not concur that Abraham's life and
AH>Muhammad's life were defined some seven to eight days after their conception
AH>the time when researchers take stem cells from the blastocyst.

AH>In the Gospels Jesus does not directly speak to when the soul enters the fle
AH>So, certain Christian theologians have taken the words of the Prophet Jeremi
AH>as a proof text about when life begins. "I knew you before you were formed i
AH>the womb," Jeremiah says, speaking in God's voice. The Vatican and several
AH>fundamentalist Protestant groups interpret this to signify that the soul is
AH>inserted at the moment of conception.

AH>Other Christian thinkers find this one verse much too vague to conclude that
AH>early embryo is ensouled. As to the embryonic development of Jesus and his
AH>being a "self-integrating human organism," that issue has vexed Christian
AH>scholars for centuries and led in part to the schism between the Roman and
AH>Eastern Orthodox churches about the nature of the Nazarene.

AH>Theology is also the basis upon which the Bush administration opposes any
AH>measures short of abstinence to stop the spread of HIV. This position comes
AH>part from viewing sex strictly as procreation, because God's first commandme
AH>in Genesis to man was to be "fruitful and multiply." This injunction, though
AH>does not necessarily proscribe interruption of intercourse or the use of
AH>spermicides. Rather, some theologians refer to the sin of Onan, who spilled
AH>seed on the ground, as a major rationale for banning contraception. Yet, the
AH>"sin" involves a back story beyond procreation per se. Onan was supposed to
AH>fulfill the obligation of Levirate marriage, the ritual that involves weddin
AH>the widow of your brother. This custom clearly worked to retain the property
AH>the clan among its progeny.

AH>A Levirate obligation as the basis for modern sex education seems far afield
AH>other religious thinkers. So, these liberal theologians select verses from
AH>Scripture that provide ballast, in certain circumstances, to the imperative
AH>be fruitful and multiply. Deuteronomy implores us to "choose life"; how life
AH>chosen, indeed sustained, in the face of a fatal epidemic such as AIDS is op
AH>to discussion. Certain people of faith, including Catholic priests, have arg
AH>that distributing condoms fulfills the injunction to "choose life" by
AH>safeguarding the uninfected living.

AH>Opponents of stem cell research also fear a "slippery slope" that scientists
AH>might slide down in pursuing this work. That concern is warranted, since eve
AH>new medical innovation carries with it both promise and peril. But those who
AH>make public policy based on theology would do well to pay attention to their
AH>own footing. Scripture can be read in many ways, and verses can be convenien
AH>selected in the Old Testament, New Testament and Koran that condone or confl
AH>with their point of view. If we learn anything from Abraham, Muhammad and Je
AH>about interpreting the mind of God, it is that such interpretation should be
AH>done cautiously, with humility, not glibly, and with understanding that we
AH>should pause to consider whose mind we are reading.

AH>The writer is a professor at Harvard Medical School and chief of the divisio
AH>of experimental medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

AH>+ 2005 The Washington Post Company

If stem cell experimentation is a religious question, the US government
has no Constitutional authority in establishing it.

Ciao,Ack.

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