In the human search for health and some imaginable immortality we now have the hot issue of stem cells. Once, I imagined that the Roman Catholic Church would be delighted if sex could be avoided in human reproduction, for catholicism deems sex as an intrinsical dangerous activity. The only concession the Roman Church have had, when it comes to sex, is to allow the intercourse for reproductive reasons and nothing more. Any special satisfaction extracted from the sexual act must be avoided as bestial and not dignifying.
But, to my surprise, all kinds of scientific experiments inducing human life other than the traditional one is considered sinful by many religious minds. Even the now common in vitro reproduction has been opposed by religion, mainly of christian confession.
The fact is that dealing with those issues, man is somehow playing god and this is the worst danger to a religious set of beliefs. One must assume that these kind of experiments are really delicate and an open field to manipulation by eugenics and other kind of immoral deal in commercial basis.
On the other hand man is for long playing god in many aspects, like using nature to his own interest by manipulating the life and death of animals and plants at will. By the progress of medical science humanity is now deceiving death by infections and other causes, leading human life to never before imagined limits.
Today, the main question is to use or not embryonic stem cells to study new cures to some terrible infirmities, like hereditary dystrophy that kills, by the most cruel process, thousands of young boys every year. For the party of religious mindset to take cells from an embryo is to kill a possibility of life, it is like killing to save a life. On the other extreme scientists in general argues that a cell is not a human being and the majority of fertilized eggs never become a human being. Inside the women’s body or in laboratories.
It is interesting to note that in many moments of human culture history one may see the clash between morality and new ideias about life and world conception. The fact is that the political power are engaged in a conception of the world that is contadicted by the new ideas set in some minds. The fear of the dominant class in face of this new developments is sometimes motive of fierce measures trying to stop it, before it weakens the power given by the established situation.
The issue of stem cells are undoubtedly linked to moral principles and it is not surprising to find voices against researches in this field, but in the XVI century the controversy about the heliocentric conception of the solar system involved not a clear moral issue. Nonetheless, the Roman Catholic Church almost sentenced Galileo to death penalty for the sin of apostasy. Hence, we may conclude that the Church was, in the Galileo’s case, fearing losing the power it had, based in the demoralization of its conceptions about the nature of the world we live in. To the lives of it’s flock, the question of solar’s system conception was almost incomprehensible. Contrary to this almost philosophical question of astronomical conceptions, the case of embryonic stem cells is much more related to human common life and, so, capable of being comprehended by everyone.
Anyway, when it comes to innovations, Churches are always against, given the fact that faith is based in the conservation and immutability. Although the sacred scriptures allow wide interpretations, these are touchy details that can erode the faith code.
On the other hand, society is in constant change and the search for a better and longer life is always the main goal. Along the human history, the scientific advance is bringing improvement to quality of everyday life and this is much more powerful than the opposition of conservative institutions.
Any new technique or tool can carry dangers, for instance, knifes can provide means to feed the species but has the potential to be used to kill other humans. In the same manner, manipulation of embryos may bring moral risks and the temptation of eugenics to improve human society. There’s a increasing power of the human skill in interfering in the core of life and this means that man needs to be more responsible and wise when dealing with so sensible questions.
Imagine if gene manipulation reaches the point that allows immortality to become a fact and not a distant dream. This magic step would be a disastrous one, although the majority of us is sure to like it. The dread consequences of immortality for humans would be felt in the most important aspects of human life, like what means to be happy or to have a good life. Almost all the good happenings in life are linked to the fight against death, like when one give birth to a son that is going to take the flame of life ahead. Even the trivial moment of a meal brings the genuine pleasure of the postponement of starvation and possible death.
If man achieve the possibility of being immortal, all these pleasures are going to be wiped out unless we change human nature too. So, in order to be immortal and have fun in the new state, man would need to be another kind of animal with different needs and aspirations.
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