I am here today to go on the record with my bewilderment with opponents of embryonic stem cell research.
Here’s how I understand stem cell research: Fertilize an egg and let it divide a few times. Take the resulting clump of cells and use them to see what kinds of tissues you can grow on command. Repeat until you get something useful. Put cotton in your ears while Christians scream at you for being a genocidal maniac.
So who wants to respond to this?
Coinciding nicely with a discussion
about evolution and intelligent design between Jerry and Theomoroph, here are
two interesting stories.
Evolutionism
and the Limits of Science
Interview With Professor Mariano Artigas (Zenit)
Science marks a key achievement in human history, says a philosopher who nevertheless warns of an “imperialism” that tries to judge everything through the sciences. Mariano Artigas, a member of Brussels’ International Academy of the Philosophy of Sciences and of the Vatican’s St. Thomas Pontifical Academy, has just published a book on evolutionism and its relationship with philosophy and religion. Entitled “The Frontiers of Evolutionism” and published by Eunsa, the book states that there are questions that science cannot resolve. Artigas, a professor of philosophy of nature and of sciences at the University of Navarre, spoke with ZENIT.
Engineering
God in a Petri Dish
By Kari Lynn Dean
On a steep, narrow street above Chinatown works Jonathon Keats, a tweed-suited, bow-tied 32-year-old who, with assistance from a phalanx of scientists, is genetically engineering God in his apartment. Advisers to Keats’ organization, the International Association for Divine Taxonomy, include biochemists, biophysicists, ecologists, geneticists and zoologists from the University of California at Berkeley, the Smithsonian and other institutions of scientific repute. The mission: to determine where on the phylogenetic map — the scientific tree of life — to put God.
The first Catholic Engaged Encounter (CEE) weekend was given in Detroit in 1974 with the aide of the Marriage Encounter Resource Community. In 1975 CEE became a self-sustaining National Ministry. CEE has had astonishing growth throughout our country and also throughout the world. CEE is now taking place in more than 30 countries around the world. It has become the rpeferred Marriage Preparation Program for the Catholic Church, and today many other Christian denominations also offer Engaged Encounter programs. Engaged Encounter teams are all volunteers.
Earlier this month, my fiance and I attended a Catholic Engaged Encounter weekend. I've already written about the site and the Masses. This part is about the content.
Why is there no Catholic carnival? Jollyblogger, a nice guy and a good
blogger, is organizing a Carnival of the Reformation. We need a
Carnival of the Counter-reformation! I don’t mean that in a spiteful
“me too” way. Carnivals are an excellent way to share ideas and promote
blogs.
From what I’ve seen in the blogosphere, the Protestants are beating the
pants off us. We’re fewer in number. We spend more time knocking each
other or the Church than defending the Faith. We are barely computer
literate, and in some cases borderline luddite. Where has “the new
evangelization” JP2 called for gone? Apparently not very far.
The Woman And The Angel
by Robert ServiceAn angel was tired of heaven, as he lounged in the golden street;
His halo was tilted sideways, and his harp lay mute at his feet;
So the Master stooped in His pity, and gave him a pass to go,
For the space of a moon, to the earth-world, to mix with the men below.He doffed his celestial garments, scarce waiting to lay them straight;
He bade good by to Peter, who stood by the golden gate;
The sexless singers of heaven chanted a fond farewell,
And the imps looked up as they pattered on the red-hot flags of hell.Never was seen such an angel, eyes of heavenly blue,
Features that shamed Apollo, hair of a golden hue;
The women simply adored him; his lips were like Cupid’s bow;
But he never ventured to use them, and so they voted him slow.Till at last there came One Woman, a marvel of loveliness,
And she whispered to him: "Do you love me?" And he answered that woman, "Yes."
And she said: "Put your arms around me, and kiss me, and hold me ‘so’"
But fiercely he drew back, saying: "This thing is wrong, and I know."Then sweetly she mocked his scruples, and softly she him beguiled:
"You, who are verily man among men, speak with the tongue of a child.
We have outlived the old standards; we have burst, like an over-tight thong,
The ancient, outworn, Puritanic traditions of Right and Wrong."Then the Master feared for His angel, and called him again to His side,
For oh, the woman was wondrous, and oh, the angel was tried!
And deep in his hell sang the Devil, and this was the strain of his song:
"The ancient, outworn, Puritanic traditions of Right and Wrong."
I think from time to time I shall post more Robert Service poems.