RE: cloning, ethics, Judaism[s]

From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Fri Jan 03 2003 - 02:32:19 MST


Damien points us to

> http://www.hadassah.org/news/pub2g/pub2g_03.htm
>
> Some strange opinions, but not necessarily as strange as some.

I found most of those opinions wonderfully funny.
Here is a sample:

"[The] dilemmas are many. What does cloning say about
the uniqueness of God and His creation?"

Grin.

"Is it ethical to replace dying children with copies..."

<laughing> like, duh, NO! It's much more ethical to
force the parents to endure the agony with no relief.
And, duh, what a TERRIBLE disservice you are doing to
both the child AND to the copy!

"Does it mean a loss of freedom because human beings
can be cloned without their knowledge or permission?"

<laughing out loud> "Loss(!) of freedom?" I am
somehow *less* free because I have a clone running
around somewhere?

"Does cloning smack of horrific medical experiments such as
those perpetrated by the Nazis in the name of eugenics?"

Yes, we much always worry as much as we can when
one thing *smacks* of another. After all, many
things can remind us of something else unless we
think. But *anything* is evidently preferable to
actual thinking.

But my favorite was ...drum roll...

   "I am against the cloning of human beings," says Dr. Yossi
   Shenkar, head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
   at the Hadassah Medical Organization... "There is the danger
   it could be misused by dictators."

Wow! He could with equal logic have said a century ago

"I am against heavier than air flight because it could
be misused by dictators!"
"I am against chemical research because it could be misused
by dictators!"
"I am against any revolution in communications
whatsoever because it could be misused by dictators!"

At that point, I gave up further reading. Too much
mirth late at night can make it harder to get to sleep.

Lee



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