stems vs pandora
This entire issue about stem cells is not that different than any other technological advancement. This issue is only going to press further with the death of Ronald Reagan with a legacy pushed through the eyes and words of Nancy Reagan. It's pretty amazing that this debate about life is currently making its inroads through 2 first ladies.
Ex-first lady, Mrs. Reagan, lost the love of her life and was forced to watch Alzheimer's take the "great communicator's" spirit away before taking away his physical self. Current first lady, Mrs. Bush, has also lost a loved one, her father, to this debilitating condition of Alzheimer's, but she believes the moral obligations of the church and her faith make stem cell research a "sin." But this assumption is based on what she knows the requirements for life are.
However, the Bush administration is being battered by the scientific community. The Union of Concerned Scientists, comprised of 60 scientists and 20 Nobel laureates, has issued a 37 page paper saying that the Bush administration has no respect for science. So the question comes down to... is this entire stem cell issue more moral or more scientific?
The way that I look at this issue.. is no different than the nuclear bomb. If the US did not invent it during the Manhattan project during WWII, somebody else would have. And on this thoughtstream, the fission technology is similar to stem cell debate which is another way of saying Pandora's box.
Do you want the technology and all of the moral obligations to this answer created here or created there. The US is not that an omnipotent powerhouse that can prevent other people from pursuing this idea. That has already been illustrated by the Korean scientist who is much closer to creating human clones then anyone here.
If the US does not pursue this.. we will just be further behind the rest of the world, there is already a brain drain of stem cell scientists leaving this country for places such as Britain and Singapore b/c they believe that this will help people supported by there respective governments.
The naive view of this.. is that we have the power to control when and where we will open this Pandora's box. The realistic view is that the box has already been opened. Do you, we, choose to accept its opening.. or do we keep living in this blissful state of ignorance that is not going to last? Pain now or Pain later?
And the truth of it all.. is it possible w/ stem cell's to create a society of Hitlers? yes.. Is it possible that society creates a storage area of half bodies meant for organ development? yes.. Is it possible that stem cells can cure Alzheimer's, Diabetes, Paralysis, Parkinson's, Arthritis? yes.. But this is the same concept as every person's own greatest strength is equally there greatest weakness. It is the same idea that people can only be as happy as they are sad. And with all things.. with greater power comes greater responsibility, but do not tell me that you can stop the world from evolving.. And that is what Bush is trying to say to me with his policies.
In the original story of Pandora. Jupiter had crammed all the diseases, sorrow, vices, and crimes that aflict poor humanity into this one box. Pandora devestated by her own curiosity opened the box and introduced pain and anger into the world. However a part of this story that few realize is that Pandora opened the box a second time. And as an act of compassion by the gods, they hid one good spirit within all of the evil released into the world. The second time that Pandora opened the box, she released Hope into the world.
And according to the story, "evil entered into the world bringing untold misery; but Hope followed closely in its footsteps, to aid struggling humanity, and point to a happier future."
Who do we want Pandora to be? Do we rather have Mrs. Reagan or Mrs. Bush? The box has already been opened once. And I think as a society in general, we need to open the stem cell box again. We need to re-introduce hope into this world and that is why I support stem cell research.
Ex-first lady, Mrs. Reagan, lost the love of her life and was forced to watch Alzheimer's take the "great communicator's" spirit away before taking away his physical self. Current first lady, Mrs. Bush, has also lost a loved one, her father, to this debilitating condition of Alzheimer's, but she believes the moral obligations of the church and her faith make stem cell research a "sin." But this assumption is based on what she knows the requirements for life are.
However, the Bush administration is being battered by the scientific community. The Union of Concerned Scientists, comprised of 60 scientists and 20 Nobel laureates, has issued a 37 page paper saying that the Bush administration has no respect for science. So the question comes down to... is this entire stem cell issue more moral or more scientific?
The way that I look at this issue.. is no different than the nuclear bomb. If the US did not invent it during the Manhattan project during WWII, somebody else would have. And on this thoughtstream, the fission technology is similar to stem cell debate which is another way of saying Pandora's box.
Do you want the technology and all of the moral obligations to this answer created here or created there. The US is not that an omnipotent powerhouse that can prevent other people from pursuing this idea. That has already been illustrated by the Korean scientist who is much closer to creating human clones then anyone here.
If the US does not pursue this.. we will just be further behind the rest of the world, there is already a brain drain of stem cell scientists leaving this country for places such as Britain and Singapore b/c they believe that this will help people supported by there respective governments.
The naive view of this.. is that we have the power to control when and where we will open this Pandora's box. The realistic view is that the box has already been opened. Do you, we, choose to accept its opening.. or do we keep living in this blissful state of ignorance that is not going to last? Pain now or Pain later?
And the truth of it all.. is it possible w/ stem cell's to create a society of Hitlers? yes.. Is it possible that society creates a storage area of half bodies meant for organ development? yes.. Is it possible that stem cells can cure Alzheimer's, Diabetes, Paralysis, Parkinson's, Arthritis? yes.. But this is the same concept as every person's own greatest strength is equally there greatest weakness. It is the same idea that people can only be as happy as they are sad. And with all things.. with greater power comes greater responsibility, but do not tell me that you can stop the world from evolving.. And that is what Bush is trying to say to me with his policies.
In the original story of Pandora. Jupiter had crammed all the diseases, sorrow, vices, and crimes that aflict poor humanity into this one box. Pandora devestated by her own curiosity opened the box and introduced pain and anger into the world. However a part of this story that few realize is that Pandora opened the box a second time. And as an act of compassion by the gods, they hid one good spirit within all of the evil released into the world. The second time that Pandora opened the box, she released Hope into the world.
And according to the story, "evil entered into the world bringing untold misery; but Hope followed closely in its footsteps, to aid struggling humanity, and point to a happier future."
Who do we want Pandora to be? Do we rather have Mrs. Reagan or Mrs. Bush? The box has already been opened once. And I think as a society in general, we need to open the stem cell box again. We need to re-introduce hope into this world and that is why I support stem cell research.
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