Science ruins being a human, according to the Pope.
Speaking of cells, the Pope said:
When human beings in the weakest and most defenseless state of their existence are selected, abandoned, killed or used as pure ‘biological material,’ how can one deny that they are being treated not as ‘someone’ but as ‘something,”
The pope belies that undifferentiated cells are people. Each one of them, I suppose, is a person. But he does not believe that a differentiated cell that is converted by scientists into an undifferentiated cell is a person. Nor, apparently, does he think of it as a monstrosity. Surly, the creation, by humans, of human life from scratch (literally from scratch … scratch off some skin cells, make a couple dozen people) is an issue. Has he not put 2 and 2 together yet?
But what’s he gonna do about it?
He rejected accusations from critics who say the Church is an obstacle to science and human progress, saying growing concern about cloning and other practices showed it was right to raise the alarm.
It was the Pope’s latest foray into scientific issues. On Monday he warned against the “seductive” powers of science, saying it was important that science did not become the sole criteria for goodness.
U.S. Cardinal William Levada, Benedict’s successor as head of the doctrinal department, said it was mulling the possibility of preparing a new Vatican document on bioethical issues.
I think the Pope has been smoking Dope again.
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Science enhances human dignity. Let’s see the Pope respond to that one.
As a long-term dope smoker, I resent that. Many people are perfectly capable of smoking dope (even very large amounts of dope) without becoming reactionary morons who can’t tell the difference between a clump of undifferentiated cells and a human being. Frack, there isn’t enough dope in the world to get me so wasted that I’d be that stupid. Lose consciousness, yes – fail to distinguish between a blastocyst and a person, no. Only religion can mess your head up that badly.
Pope Leo XII forbid vaccination against smallpox as it was “against the natural order.”