Two comments appeared under my post of the article on stem cells.
Jeff Miller says:
Possibly, but not for a while. The debate has always been closer to abortion theology than to the merits of science.
and Zadok follows with:
Exactly... This is one battle that needs to be won on philosophical rather than scientific grounds. Even if embryo stem-cells were capable of solving all the medical problems in the world it'd still not justify the loss of one life.
I agree totally. I liken it to arguments for Natural Family Planning that start with its effectiveness. Well... that's nice, but wouldn't that make NFP + a condom + who knows what other contraptions they make these days even more effective? People need to be convinced that birth control is wrong, not that NFP is more effective.
Yet the debate hasn't been won yet, and in fact is being lost in some places (California). So while we pray and work to change people's hearts and minds about stem cells, the development of an alternative form of research that doesn't destroy human life can be a great good.
If adult stem cells show promise to be more effective than embryonic stem cells (the point of the article I posted), then by all means, let's hurry up and get there so we can people will stop tinkering with life. If I can convince a murderer not to kill somebody because it's in his own best interests, it's not the same as bringing him to respect life, but I've still saved a life.
I hope I didn't seem to be disagreeing with you! The news about adult stem cells is very good.
No no, not arguing here, just thinking out loud. The point Jeff was making is right. The main debate is about personhood, not effectiveness.