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Author Topic: The Catholic Church and Hybrid Embryos - A Hypocritical Farce
Lambchops  11705 posts
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The Catholic Church and Hybrid Embryos - A Hypocritical Farce 3/23/08 5:32am - Edited By: Lambchops  3/23/08 5:34am (1 edits total)
Here in the UK stem cell research has again hit the headlines, with the recent debate over a pending bill on embryo legislation.

Unsurprisingly the main antagonists in this debate are the Catholic church, who are all aghast at the part of the bill which allows for embryos which contain both human and animal cells. These hybrid embryos are the cause of a large amount of moral outrage among Catholic leaders, the Cardinal in Scotland declaring that "we are about to have a public government endorsement of experiments of Frankenstein proportion - without many people really being aware of what is going on..

Another of the issues the Catholic church is upset about is the fact that Labour was set to enforce a three line whip (in effect forcing MPs to vote for the legislation as any MP who does not attend can face suspension). It seems that the government is set to compromise on this, bringing it closer in line with the other parties who are allowing a free vote on the issue.

I can't help but feel that the Catholic Church is guilty of misinformation and hypocrisy over their comments on this bill. Here's why:

Misrepresentation of the science involved

This goes back to comments such as the Scottish cardinal's. Using evocative language such as "Frankenstein" in his sermon is clearly unhelpful. He is implying that this legislation will lead to the birth of human/animal hybrids. Firstly this is illegal. unethical and something that no right thinking scientist would even consider. Secondly this is far from the purpose for which the legalisation of human/animal embryos is for. The main reasoning behind the move is a shortage of human eggs for stem cell research. By allowing the use of animal eggs of which the DNA information has been mostly removed, potentially beneficial stem cell research can be made quicker and more efficient. The actual animal DNA in the hybrid cells is around 1% or less. This is hardly the creation of monsters. I wonder if the Cardinal would also like to abandon such things as the life saving transplants of pig heart valves, as this too allows animal cells into the sacred human body?

Stem cell research is already under justifiably stringent regulations and the Cardinal can be rest assured that the monsters he is so scared of will never come to fruition in the UK.

Hypocrisy

The one thing I do agree with the church on is that on issues with potential moral and ethical implications such as this one that MPs should be allowed a free vote and to follow their conscience on such legislation. If they have all the facts they should be able to make an informed decision. However church leaders undo the good work they have done in encouraging a free vote when they say things such as the following from Cardinal Murphy O'Connor, ""I think Catholics in politics have got to act according to their Catholic convictions, so have other Christians, so have other politicians.

"There are Catholics who feel very strongly about this matter and I am glad that they do."

The game of "spot the hypocrite" is so depressingly simple here that it could probably be marketed to the under fives. By stating that Catholics should act according to their Catholic convictions the Cardinal is imposing the church's own three line whip - and God is probably a far more imposing figure to cross than Gordon Brown! The Cardinal seems pretty dismissive of Catholic minister's own moral convictions. What if they have a friend or relative who is suffering from Parkinson's disease, MS or any number of illnesses whose effects could be alleviated from discoveries made during the course of stem cell research? Perhaps despite their church's distaste they might feel that they could not morally deny people the chance to alleviate their suffering. However the Cardinal does not seem to even give this position a moment's thought - denouncing the government for the same kind of attitude that he himself is showing.

Above all MPs are representatives of their constituencies

Their job is to represent their constituents. I'm not sure if there are many indicators on overall public opinion on the bill. The church, unsurprisingly, suggests their is little public support; while scientist's say that the public would support the bill if they fully understood the aims of the research. Whatever the overriding public opinion is, it is MPs job to represent this in government. Obviously if their conscience truly can't let them do this then that is their prerogative. They just have to be aware that this might affect their constituents opinions of them. Obviously on issues like this one their is more leeway for such personal decisions but if an MP is being contrary to consensus at every turn then perhaps they should consider another job.

I think that throughout the course of this post I've made it clear that I support the bill. So clearly I've got my own bias on the subject. However I'm quite happy to see everyone vote on their own moral standpoint. This I feel is a view not shared by the Catholic church - who seem to me in this instance to be taking a step to far in meddling with the affairs of government and are for the large part behaving with intense hypocrisy and on occasion guily of manipulation and misinformation.

 

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DarrenFox  1862 posts
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RE: The Catholic Church and Hybrid Embryos - A Hypocritical Farce 3/23/08 10:32am
God hates furs?

 

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Illuminated_Sheep  1360 posts
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RE: The Catholic Church and Hybrid Embryos - A Hypocritical Farce 3/23/08 2:25pm
I can't really see why you think the church is acting hypocritically.

I'm not a Catholic myself, but I understand that they view embryos as living beings, and are therefore against abortion at any stage. Anyone deciding to become a member of the church would naturally be against any experimentation on embryos. As far as I am aware, they are not saying anyone agreeing with this will be banished from the church, they are merely stating the church's position.

 

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BOP_G.A.Pster  7313 posts
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RE: The Catholic Church and Hybrid Embryos - A Hypocritical Farce 3/28/08 9:53pm
As long as it’s just early development embryos that’s ok.
Wouldn’t it be better to “kill” one that’s most or partly animal, and 100% human?
……….
I’m kind of paranoid about transgenics (well a lot of things actually, lol), I think we’re going to end up with transgenics who are like 98% human used for lab testing (indistinguishable from you and me), and they won’t have any more rights than monkeys.

 

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RE: The Catholic Church and Hybrid Embryos - A Hypocritical Farce 4/21/08 9:38am
BOP_G.A.Pster posted:
As long as it’s just early development embryos that’s ok.
Wouldn’t it be better to “kill” one that’s most or partly animal, and 100% human?
……….
I’m kind of paranoid about transgenics (well a lot of things actually, lol), I think we’re going to end up with transgenics who are like 98% human used for lab testing (indistinguishable from you and me), and they won’t have any more rights than monkeys.


What if these transgenic human being had no consciousness and hence, no ability to suffe? It would make it more ethical to experiment on them than even mice I think.

 
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