THOMAS: One Vote is Too Close For Comfort on Stem Cell Legislation
OPINION - That was close. Too close for comfort.(The Leader) The Illinois Senate, by ONE vote, defeated House Bill 3589--a bill that would have allowed for government funded human cloning and experimentation on human embryos and fetuses, regardless of the age of the embryo or fetus. That means, had this passed, it would have been perfectly legal to take a 9 month old, unborn fetus, kill it, experiment with it, and harvest its "adult" stem cells for biotechnological reasons.I'll give the sponsors and supporters of this Frankenstienesque bill the benefit of the doubt. I'll presume that they never intended to provide the state funded legal basis for creating a market for mass fetus production. I'll presume they had all "good intentions" as the feel-good end that justifies the mad scientist means. But, ultimately, it is usually not the well-meaning, softhearted, well-intentioned public servants who exploit the law for their own gain. As a consequence, however, it is rarely the public servant who seriously considers the ramifications.And, make no mistake, there are dire ramifications to what this bill would have allowed. The goal of immortality is no longer the domain of Vincent Price mad scientist characters in movies.
Transhumanism--the belief that human beings, with the proper technology, have the ability to transcend age, disease, this planet and, ultimately, death--is a real-life growing worldview. The leading transhumanist website lists, among its core values, this statement: "Transhumanism advocates the well-being of all sentience (whether in artificial intellects, humans, posthumans, or non-human animals) and encompasses many principles of modern humanism."Translated to English, this is the belief that human beings are simply one of the animals of the universe and, apparently, simply part of an intellectual continuum that includes artificial intelligence.In a worldview, universe view (if you will), where human beings hold the same relative value as a microprocessors or sheep, growing humans inside other humans for the purpose of killing humans and experimenting on humans, for the sole purpose of trying to find out if some humans might live better or live longer, seems perfectly normal. Passing legislation like House Bill 3589 would have further opened the doors to the real-life Dr. Arcanes (remember Swamp Thing?) of the transhuman and posthuman movements. Thank God for the one vote that provided the margin to defeat this Bill.Thank God? It's more than the transhumanists would do. I could find no reference to, or acknowledgement of, any form of supreme being, let alone the God of the Bible, in any of the transhuman or posthuman material I've researched. And, why should there be? If we are indistinguishable, in value, from other forms of life or other forms of intelligence, then we certainly can't be paramount among God's creations (as He says we are). In fact, if God did not order the universe, there can be no God.My atheist friends will have no problem with this portion of the transhuman worldview. But, for most of us, we would stand in strong opposition to this worldview. Yet, far too many believers seem to support this transhuman agenda of embryonic stem cell research, cloning, genetic combination, etc.Like most issues, this one seems to break along liberal/conservative lines, but it really shouldn't. This should break along lines of faith. If you believe that God created the universe and has placed an order to all that is in it, then liberal or conservative, you must rethink your support for legislation like House Bill 3589. It was defeated by ONLY one vote. Certainly there will be efforts to revise and resubmit this type of legislation.It will be relatively easy, I would think, to re-craft a bill that would sway just one vote. Let's not let that happen. I call on all those who believe in a sovereign God to contact your state senators and representatives and voice your opposition to this bill not on political grounds, but standing on faith. Most of our elected state officials profess belief in God. We need to admonish them to vote that way on the next version of House Bill 3589. One vote is far too close for comfort.
(c) 2004 IllinoisLeader.comBy: Scott ThomasSource: The LeaderPublish Date: December 01, 2004
Online at: http://ifrl.org/IFRLDailyNews/041202/4
OPINION - That was close. Too close for comfort.(The Leader) The Illinois Senate, by ONE vote, defeated House Bill 3589--a bill that would have allowed for government funded human cloning and experimentation on human embryos and fetuses, regardless of the age of the embryo or fetus. That means, had this passed, it would have been perfectly legal to take a 9 month old, unborn fetus, kill it, experiment with it, and harvest its "adult" stem cells for biotechnological reasons.I'll give the sponsors and supporters of this Frankenstienesque bill the benefit of the doubt. I'll presume that they never intended to provide the state funded legal basis for creating a market for mass fetus production. I'll presume they had all "good intentions" as the feel-good end that justifies the mad scientist means. But, ultimately, it is usually not the well-meaning, softhearted, well-intentioned public servants who exploit the law for their own gain. As a consequence, however, it is rarely the public servant who seriously considers the ramifications.And, make no mistake, there are dire ramifications to what this bill would have allowed. The goal of immortality is no longer the domain of Vincent Price mad scientist characters in movies.
Transhumanism--the belief that human beings, with the proper technology, have the ability to transcend age, disease, this planet and, ultimately, death--is a real-life growing worldview. The leading transhumanist website lists, among its core values, this statement: "Transhumanism advocates the well-being of all sentience (whether in artificial intellects, humans, posthumans, or non-human animals) and encompasses many principles of modern humanism."Translated to English, this is the belief that human beings are simply one of the animals of the universe and, apparently, simply part of an intellectual continuum that includes artificial intelligence.In a worldview, universe view (if you will), where human beings hold the same relative value as a microprocessors or sheep, growing humans inside other humans for the purpose of killing humans and experimenting on humans, for the sole purpose of trying to find out if some humans might live better or live longer, seems perfectly normal. Passing legislation like House Bill 3589 would have further opened the doors to the real-life Dr. Arcanes (remember Swamp Thing?) of the transhuman and posthuman movements. Thank God for the one vote that provided the margin to defeat this Bill.Thank God? It's more than the transhumanists would do. I could find no reference to, or acknowledgement of, any form of supreme being, let alone the God of the Bible, in any of the transhuman or posthuman material I've researched. And, why should there be? If we are indistinguishable, in value, from other forms of life or other forms of intelligence, then we certainly can't be paramount among God's creations (as He says we are). In fact, if God did not order the universe, there can be no God.My atheist friends will have no problem with this portion of the transhuman worldview. But, for most of us, we would stand in strong opposition to this worldview. Yet, far too many believers seem to support this transhuman agenda of embryonic stem cell research, cloning, genetic combination, etc.Like most issues, this one seems to break along liberal/conservative lines, but it really shouldn't. This should break along lines of faith. If you believe that God created the universe and has placed an order to all that is in it, then liberal or conservative, you must rethink your support for legislation like House Bill 3589. It was defeated by ONLY one vote. Certainly there will be efforts to revise and resubmit this type of legislation.It will be relatively easy, I would think, to re-craft a bill that would sway just one vote. Let's not let that happen. I call on all those who believe in a sovereign God to contact your state senators and representatives and voice your opposition to this bill not on political grounds, but standing on faith. Most of our elected state officials profess belief in God. We need to admonish them to vote that way on the next version of House Bill 3589. One vote is far too close for comfort.
(c) 2004 IllinoisLeader.comBy: Scott ThomasSource: The LeaderPublish Date: December 01, 2004
Online at: http://ifrl.org/IFRLDailyNews/041202/4
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