Its all Obama this week. Serge, Scott, and Jay respond to President Obama's speech yesterday regarding destructive embryo research and the position of science in public discourse. Should scientific inquiry always trump ethical and moral concerns?
Links from the podcast:
Transcript of Obama's speech (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-of-the-President-As-Prepared-for-Delivery-Signing-of-Stem-Cell-Executive-Order-and-Scientific-Integrity-Presidential-Memorandum/)
Ryan Anderson's piece in the Weekly Standard (http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/258hdaij.asp)
You can download the podcast directly at http://www.switchpod.com/p23079.html or subscribe using Itunes at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=303709975
I find some of the historical aspects to be interesting. It seems like some people have a very difficult time understanding that an embryo is a human being with intrinsic value. Why might it be that there are people that hold that it is silly or strange to hold the view that an embryo is an intrinsically valuable human being? Correct me if I’m wrong, but maybe it is (to some degree) because people throughout history had not viewed humans as being the shape, size, etc., of an embryo until science showed us these things relatively recently. When there is new information about something, it can take a long time for people to get used to it. Hopefully time, education, and the Spirit will assist people that hold that it is silly to view an embryo as being an intrinsically valuable human being. People should understand that science is frequently showing us new things that might seem strange at first, but then we eventually get used to it and understand that it is not strange.
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