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In leaps and bounds.
Monday, 9 March 2009 22:04"In recent years, when it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values. In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering...but let’s be clear: promoting science isn’t just about providing resources – it is also about protecting free and open inquiry. It is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it’s inconvenient – especially when it’s inconvenient. It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda – and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology."--President Barack Obama
Tonight, it was an evening alone. Me and the laundry, together for three hours as I once again acquainted myself with detergent, dryer sheets, quarters, underwear, and socks that seem to multiply like rabbits. And it was during the folding of the laundry that I found myself finally being able to get in more detail, the news of our President reversing, lifting the ban that George W. Bush placed on using taxpayer dollars to fund stem cell research, mostly on moral grounds.
I had to stop for a few minutes and just watch and see as the news described the story, then presented both sides of the argument, displaying this decision by our President as "highly controversial." In some regards, it is, I'm sure. But looking at all the potential this sort of research has, the possibility that it could reverse in a person the bad hand dealt by genetics or the critical miss rolled by a person who simply had bad luck and before their eyes watched as their body inexplicably began to rebel against itself, or repairing the damage that robbed a person of any of their senses..all this potential, all this promise, has new life again.
It especially hits close to home now for me...as we all know, about two and a half years ago, I, for reasons still unknown, contracted Crohn's disease. While current theories point to genetics, no one really knows what causes the immune system to suddenly rebel against itself without any warning at all, damaging healthy tissue to the point where, if left untreated, could result in massive chunks of my digestive system removed, and ultimately kill me. This research could potentially find a way to heal me. Perhaps it could help my fiance, whose ovaries don't work properly, the result of another chronic condition and could lead to cervical cancer if left untreated. It may, in time, help a dear friend who is at the onset of MS, or somehow reverse the internal damage that took away my mother's hearing before she was even born. Mom's been to every single one of my concerts and shows, and has never heard me sing...it's a long shot, but maybe I'll get that chance.
And while I may never see a cure for any of these in my lifetime, I can least take comfort in the fact that science, at least for now, is no longer under the oppressive thumb of the Moral Majority. For everything I've seen about stem cell research, I've not seen one argument presented by anyone AGAINST it that doesn't invoke the Almighty. So far, for all I've heard, the only argument against it is the "God says it's immoral" argument. Sorry...it's not going to fly with me. You've gotta come up with something grounded in a little more logic and factual evidence than "God says it's wrong." If anyone has a logical, well-thought, and fact-oriented argument against this sort of research that isn't entirely God-based, please talk to me...I will gladly listen with open eyes and ears.
I've always thought that science should work toward improving the human condition, and the thought that this research has potential to bring about cures for chronic and terminal diseases, just the thought, is enough for me to approve of it.
The Catholic Church can lick my scrotum. You're telling me that if you have family and they're dying from a terminal illness like cancer and science provided you the cure, you'd refuse it on moral grounds? You're more screwed up than I thought.
So, what the President did today is definitely a moment, in my eyes, for the win.
Tonight, it was an evening alone. Me and the laundry, together for three hours as I once again acquainted myself with detergent, dryer sheets, quarters, underwear, and socks that seem to multiply like rabbits. And it was during the folding of the laundry that I found myself finally being able to get in more detail, the news of our President reversing, lifting the ban that George W. Bush placed on using taxpayer dollars to fund stem cell research, mostly on moral grounds.
I had to stop for a few minutes and just watch and see as the news described the story, then presented both sides of the argument, displaying this decision by our President as "highly controversial." In some regards, it is, I'm sure. But looking at all the potential this sort of research has, the possibility that it could reverse in a person the bad hand dealt by genetics or the critical miss rolled by a person who simply had bad luck and before their eyes watched as their body inexplicably began to rebel against itself, or repairing the damage that robbed a person of any of their senses..all this potential, all this promise, has new life again.
It especially hits close to home now for me...as we all know, about two and a half years ago, I, for reasons still unknown, contracted Crohn's disease. While current theories point to genetics, no one really knows what causes the immune system to suddenly rebel against itself without any warning at all, damaging healthy tissue to the point where, if left untreated, could result in massive chunks of my digestive system removed, and ultimately kill me. This research could potentially find a way to heal me. Perhaps it could help my fiance, whose ovaries don't work properly, the result of another chronic condition and could lead to cervical cancer if left untreated. It may, in time, help a dear friend who is at the onset of MS, or somehow reverse the internal damage that took away my mother's hearing before she was even born. Mom's been to every single one of my concerts and shows, and has never heard me sing...it's a long shot, but maybe I'll get that chance.
And while I may never see a cure for any of these in my lifetime, I can least take comfort in the fact that science, at least for now, is no longer under the oppressive thumb of the Moral Majority. For everything I've seen about stem cell research, I've not seen one argument presented by anyone AGAINST it that doesn't invoke the Almighty. So far, for all I've heard, the only argument against it is the "God says it's immoral" argument. Sorry...it's not going to fly with me. You've gotta come up with something grounded in a little more logic and factual evidence than "God says it's wrong." If anyone has a logical, well-thought, and fact-oriented argument against this sort of research that isn't entirely God-based, please talk to me...I will gladly listen with open eyes and ears.
I've always thought that science should work toward improving the human condition, and the thought that this research has potential to bring about cures for chronic and terminal diseases, just the thought, is enough for me to approve of it.
The Catholic Church can lick my scrotum. You're telling me that if you have family and they're dying from a terminal illness like cancer and science provided you the cure, you'd refuse it on moral grounds? You're more screwed up than I thought.
So, what the President did today is definitely a moment, in my eyes, for the win.
