Monday, October 11, 2004
Christopher Reeve
I was sorry to hear that Christopher Reeve passed away. I am, and have always been, a big Superman fan. I spent most of my lawn mowing money, as a kid, on Superman comics and enjoyed nearly every version of the Superman story that was ever on the air. The current version, on the WB, called "Smallville" has done an excellent job of reinventing the story for a new audience. It is a show that I enjoy all the more because one of my sons is a big Superman fan and I watch it with him. Christopher Reeve has been on Smallville a few times in the last couple of years as an eccentric professor who figured out that Clark Kent is really Superman.
Christopher Reeve, of course, had been quite outspoken about using stem cells from human embryos. I am in agreement with the Catholic Church on this issue and believe it to be a rather sickening form of cannibalism. Even though I have close friends who have used in-vitro fertilization to become pregnant, even though I understand their desire to have a child, I was still disgusted by John Kerry's suggestion that left over frozen embryos from in-vitro fertilizations be harvested for research.
I am currently reading a book called "Dies the Fire" by S.M. Stirling. In the book, all modern machinery is rendered useless by, perhaps, an electro magnetic pulse (EMP). For some reason (that is yet unclear in the book), all gunpowder is also rendered inert. In the winking of an eye, mankind is returned to the age of the knights: no bullets, no guns, no missiles, no cars, no communications, no running water, no working sewage, etc. However unlikely the premise, millions of city people with no food leads to (you bet) cannibalism. How can we be so horrified by people eating people but so complacent about people injecting dead babies into their own brains? Some who are for embryonic stell cell research tell me I would sing a different tune if I was the one with Parkinsons or diabetes or had a child with the same.
Perhaps these same people would have counseled the apostles to just shut up about Jesus before it gets you killed.
Anyway, farewell, Kal El, Christopher Reeve... you now know far more than any of us about the ethics of embryonic stell cell research.
Christopher Reeve, of course, had been quite outspoken about using stem cells from human embryos. I am in agreement with the Catholic Church on this issue and believe it to be a rather sickening form of cannibalism. Even though I have close friends who have used in-vitro fertilization to become pregnant, even though I understand their desire to have a child, I was still disgusted by John Kerry's suggestion that left over frozen embryos from in-vitro fertilizations be harvested for research.
I am currently reading a book called "Dies the Fire" by S.M. Stirling. In the book, all modern machinery is rendered useless by, perhaps, an electro magnetic pulse (EMP). For some reason (that is yet unclear in the book), all gunpowder is also rendered inert. In the winking of an eye, mankind is returned to the age of the knights: no bullets, no guns, no missiles, no cars, no communications, no running water, no working sewage, etc. However unlikely the premise, millions of city people with no food leads to (you bet) cannibalism. How can we be so horrified by people eating people but so complacent about people injecting dead babies into their own brains? Some who are for embryonic stell cell research tell me I would sing a different tune if I was the one with Parkinsons or diabetes or had a child with the same.
Perhaps these same people would have counseled the apostles to just shut up about Jesus before it gets you killed.
Anyway, farewell, Kal El, Christopher Reeve... you now know far more than any of us about the ethics of embryonic stell cell research.
