Had Lord Buddha been here, he would have said, "Consult Your
Own Common Sense", as he always would 2500 years ago.
I have used my common sense, and come up with these
questions to ask...
1. What is the purpose of cloning?
2. Will the human-cloned be considered human being, legally?
3. What to do with the unsuccessful cloned?
Let's discuss human cloning as it is where the disagreement
mostly falls.
The purpose of human cloning seems to be (as claimed) to
improve human genes and get rid of genetically-transferred
diseases and symptoms. Another purpose could be to look for
a replacement for our wrecked organ.
Hmmm... The first purpose makes me think of vaccination. The
more vaccines we invented, the more mutate germs seemed to be and that gave us more diseases. Are you sure there is no other birth impair coming with cloning? Do not forget if you
clone, you have already given a life. You cannot just get
rid of it.
This, and the second purpose lead the discussion to our
second question... Will the human-cloned be considered
Human being? If he is a human-being, he is protected by the
Human Rights Treaty. And we cannot expect to just remove
an organ from him... If there was anything wrong in the
cloning process, and the baby is born crippled, you cannot
get rid of him because it IS a murder. Who is going to
take care of him, then? Will there be love for him at all?
What kind of environment this kid will be raised up? How
many social problems this kind of baby will create? Don't
we have enough cracked babies nowadays?
If scientists can't give satisfying answers to these,
well...
Nature has its way to balance things. I don't think we
should intervene.
Western Yang:
There is never going to be an easy answer to the dilemma of
whether cloning is right or wrong. On one side of the issue
are those who believe it is totally wrong, any attempt at
creating life through the manipulation of DNA for whatever
reason is abhorrent and making a mockery of an area that
belongs to God alone. How do we explain to these children we
humans have created where they came from? How do we in good conscience raise humans to harvest their organs to replace diseased ones in others? On the other, are those who
believe if we can take the DNA of an existing life form and
use it to create another copy we will have the answer to the
treatment and cure of all human disease and illness,
eventually allowing us to rid the world of genetic problems.
After all, we do not need to create the entire human for the
parts we would create for replacements. Also, think about
the children we could give the couples who have tried for
years to have their own naturally, yet to no avail.
As a Christian, I believe the answer will come to us through
God. We have been made in the image of God and we have been given the mind of God with His knowledge and power. However, we are given only what He feels we are ready and able to deal with at this time in our history and future. I don't
believe we will ever succeed in cloning a human, through
alien beings or otherwise. This is not part of what God
intended for us to do in His name. We may, perhaps, be
allowed to see some progress in this area that will allow
us to cure, or treat, a certain disease, but never will we
see another totally human made human being walking around
among us.
Yang: Beth Ferree, Creative Director of K.F. Publications,
has over 20 years professional writing/editing experience.
From Online Newsletters to Print Brochures - Virtually the
Only Reality in Outsourcing Today! http://www.bethferree.com
I am a statistician. And I have learned for a long time that
-- as much as the moon affects water levels and tides --
The universe, stars and planets exert influence on a
person's characteristics.
I have read several astrology books and found most of them
accurate. Matching people's birth sign and their characters
is one of my hobbies.
I also believe you can read a lot from a person's palm too.
Palmistry is also one of my hobbies.
However, I do not believe in fortune telling. I don't know
whether our destiny is being written since we were born. But
I believe that our present karma (what we have done in this
life) is the major factor that directs our future. As Doc
Brown said at the end of the movie "Back to the Future III"
-- "Your future is not there yet. It's up to your present."
I do not believe in Psychics. Don't get me wrong. There is
no way I can find out whether they really have the power to
talk to or to feel the spirits or not. If they don't, they
are criminals. If they do, how do we know the spirits or
ghosts who come to them are telling the truth? How do we
know the ghost who shows up is really our late uncle? The
Psychic does not know our uncle, does she?
I do not believe in Nostradamus either. The book he wrote
was in ancient French language, which is not easy to
translate. Moreover, he wrote it in the way we can
interpret into several different meanings. I do not know
if it was his intention to be ambiguous. But I know I should
not believe in whatever so vague that nobody really knows
what it really means.
Western Yang:
Corinthians 12:4 tells us there are different gifts of the
Spirit. One of these gifts is the gift of prophecy. Given
that as well as the evidence throughout the Bible that
Daniel, John, Isaiah, Abraham and, most especially, Jesus,
all prophesied, I have to certainly believe there is such a
thing as psychics and fortunetellers. Unfortunately, the
problem lies not in what these people are but in the way
they practice their gifts.
I have the gift of prophecy myself and the few times I have
used it for the wrong reasons my entire life has been turned
upside down and I have been through Hell until I have found
a way to turn it back around. I personally believe those who
say when you use those gifts for the wrong reasons you will
suffer for doing so.
Having said that I also believe a vast majority of those
practicing on the psychic hotlines, or holding fortune
telling sessions under the stars are frauds. The huge number
of lawsuits now pending against Miss Cleo pretty much says
it all. For the most part those who are offering to read
your fortune for the price of a 900 number 30-minute call
are crooks. They have a formula that will fit a set profile
and there are certain questions they will ask based on your
answers to other leading questions they've asked. I said
they are crooks, not necessarily stupid.
As far as Nostrodamus is concerned I would say he probably
did have a gift but his works have been so misconstrued and
rewritten over the years it is impossible to say that he has
accurately predicted the end of the world to be October 23,
2004 (or whenever he did say) and we should all be standing
at the top of the mountain by midnight on the 22nd. The only
one who could possibly answer that question is God and the
Bible clearly states on that that we are not to know the day
or time Jesus is to return for he is to come as a thief in
the night. The idea here as I see it is we are to be living
our lives as though we are always ready to go to heaven. If
you're not ashamed of how you live your life why should it
matter when it ends?
Yang: Beth Ferree, USA,
Creative Director of K.F. Publications, has over 20 years
professional writing/editing experience. From Online
Newsletters to Print Brochures - Virtually the Only
Reality in Outsourcing Today! http://www.bethferree.com
