“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” - Albert Einstein
Pope Benedict recently clarified the Church’s support for the use of adult stem-cells in medical research. In recent years the Church has been outspoken in its condemnation of embryonic stem-cell research and now scientists are faced with an obvious alternative. The Pope spoke clearly on the matter during his public audience on the 27th of June when he stated how “the position of the Church is clear: scientific research must be encouraged and promoted, so long as it does not harm other human beings, whose dignity is inviolable from the very first stages of existence.”
For those who aren’t aware the difference between both is that, while embryonic stem-cells are obtained from the destruction of a developing embryo, adult stem-cells can be extracted from the cells found in everything from umbilical cords to bone marrow. This means that adult stem-cells do not require the destruction of what many view is a human life (me included!) where the embryonic variety do. The reason the debate exists is because of the feeling amongst scientific communities that stem-cell research holds the coveted key to such problems as Alzheimers, cancer etc. It is also an educated belief that it would be simpler and more efficient to use embryonic stem-cells rather than adult stem-cells but this is twinned with the destruction of embryos which many (including the Church) see as murder.
Medical ethics insists that the welfare of all life must be investigated and so without a conclusion as to the central question involved -’When does life begin?’- the belief is that if an embryo could be a child then it’s too big a risk to play with their lives in place of the quality of another. Yet those of faith would suggest that we do know the answer to this question. It’s written in Jeremiah: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you’. This, from the sacred scripture of over one billion Christians worldwide is a force to be reckoned with. Many simply use such passages as a reference point in forming an educated opinion but every year the time at which science claims life begins moves closer and closer to conception.
Science gives us a chance to see far beyond the horizon, religion tells us in advance where to look.
Thursday, June 28th, 2007 and is filed under Rome.
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