I’m really starting to like Chaput. Thanks, edey, for the tip. 🙂

What
we can do isn’t always what we should do
Embryonic stem cell research: The end never justifies the means

A few years ago, a friend of mine attended a conference in Washington, D.C., titled “Supercomputing and the Human Endeavor.” Chemists, biologists, physicists, computer experts, educators, business executives, political leaders, social scientists and a few religious scholars took part. The idea behind the meeting was simple. At the national research level, computers have now become so fast and so powerful that they can begin to simulate primitive biological life. Soon, they may almost appear to “think.” And that leads to questions about the meaning of artificial intelligence; the nature of consciousness; and what — if anything -— makes the human person unique. My friend came back pretty shaken up. The theme had been important. The attendees had been brilliant. But while a lot of enthusiasm had surrounded the practical uses of supercomputers, nobody really wanted to dig too deeply into the “human endeavor.” Why? Because nobody could really agree on the essence of what the word “human” means. Nor did anyone want to suggest what the purpose of the human endeavor might be.

Thinning
the ranks in a town called Death Row
Death penalty a sign of nation’s divided heart about sanctity of human life

Across the country, 38 states including our own have the death penalty. That works out to about 3,400 men and women awaiting execution — enough to populate a Colorado town the size of Yuma. Last week the U.S. Supreme Court closed off the appeals of more than 100 of those condemned persons.