tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2009:/onfaith//264 2009-03-10T17:32:20Z Movable Type 4.2-en tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2009:/onfaith/julia_neuberger//348.42506 2009-03-10T04:05:27Z 2009-03-11T12:54:58Z

God gave us minds and hearts and heads, and that it is for us to use that God given intelligence to conduct research that could improve human wellbeing and human life expectancy.

Julia Neuberger When we have had discussions about stem cell research and use of pre-embryos in the UK in recent years, it has been heartening to hear the voices of Jews across the spectrum from orthodoxy to the most liberal, as well as Christians and Muslims and Sikhs and Hindus, argue that God gave us minds and hearts and heads, and that it is for us to use that God given intelligence to conduct research that could improve human wellbeing and human life expectancy. tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2009:/onfaith/gardner_calvin_taylor//299.42505 2009-03-10T04:01:57Z 2009-03-11T12:52:05Z

I agree with President Obama. The whole Judeo-Christian emphasis is upon life.

Gardner Calvin Taylor When he lifted the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, President Obama said, "As a person of faith . . . I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research . . . and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly." Do you agree? I agree with President Obama. The whole Judeo-Christian emphasis is upon life. At the heart of the Christian faith is the word, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) In every medical and scientific discovery, which opens new opportunity for life, God is present. ]]> tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2009:/onfaith/c_welton_gaddy//341.42241 2009-03-10T04:29:53Z 2009-03-11T12:58:44Z

Public policies in our government are to reflect not a particular religious or ideological perspective but what is best for the health and welfare of our nation's citizens based on the guidance, in this instance, of sound science.

Welton Gaddy http://www.interfaithalliance.org I was honored to be a guest at the White House on Monday when President Obama signed an executive order overturning the ban on federal funding for stem cell research. Without question, this issue is controversial in the religious community. However, public policies in our government are to reflect not a particular religious or ideological perspective but what is best for the health and welfare of our nation's citizens based on the guidance, in this instance, of sound science. President Obama's action removed a ban instituted by President Bush based on one particular religious perspective present in select religious traditions. Federally-funded scientific institutions must be guided by objectivity, facts and evidence -- not ideology. We do a disservice to religion when we ban scientific pursuits in its name. Congress still has a ban in place on using federal funds to create news stem cell lines. President Obama's action today is a great step forward, but it is only a step. The president said on Monday that, "There is no finish line in the work of science." The same can be said of efforts to protect both sound science and religious freedom. tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2009:/onfaith/adin_steinsaltz//286.42237 2009-03-10T04:53:37Z 2009-03-11T13:01:07Z

Giving power to scientists and politicians means that the real rational response is a great deal of prayer.

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz The problems involved in stem cell research are not simple. While it gives us hope for new openings and new solutions, if placed in the wrong hands, stem cell research can also become a dangerous tool. The danger may even come as a result of human error. tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2009:/onfaith/david_wolpe//612.42232 2009-03-10T05:59:43Z 2009-03-10T13:43:53Z

The President made the moral choice, in my view. As someone who is in remission, and whose diagnosis makes it clear that I will one day face treating my cancer again, medical advances are personally poignant to me. But even were that not the case, I would support the research.

David Wolpe Where you stand famously depends in part on where you sit. From where I sit, as a survivor of both a brain tumor and lymphoma, I agree wholeheartedly with the President. Both my scientific understanding of the issues and my moral understand reinforce the urgency of stem cell research. Judaism does not equate conception with life and indeed understands that there are 'degrees' of life. To take two clear examples: according to Jewish law, until a child is born, the life of the mother takes precedence over the unborn child. Judaism does not view the fetus as nothing, or negligible, but sees the mother's as a full life, and the unborn child as something less than that before it emerges from the womb. A second example is the permissibility of administering pain medication to relieve excruciating pain even if an unintended byproduct might be to shorten life. That suggests that what we call "quality of life" has a deep resonance in my tradition. So to use embryonic stem cells is not to facilitate murder. Rather it is to hold the promise of remedies that will enable those whose lives are diminished, ravaged, abbreviated, to hope for something better. To quote my brother, Dr. Paul Root-Wolpe, Director of the Ethics Center at Emory University, Judaism has a sense of the sacredness of place, and the idea that an embryo has a different moral status if it is an dish versus a womb seems to mirror most people's commonsense notion of why they support stem cell research. The President made the moral choice, in my view. As someone who is in remission, and whose diagnosis makes it clear that I will one day face treating my cancer again, medical advances are personally poignant to me. But even were that not the case, I would support the research. tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2009:/onfaith/mathew_n_schmalz//613.42221 2009-03-07T18:12:21Z 2009-03-10T13:37:10Z

In marginalizing religiously informed critiques of public policy, including stem cell research, Obama is unintentionally spinning a kind of religious narrative of his own that has equally sectarian implications.

Mathew N. Schmalz President Obama is set to repeal the Bush administration's decision to restrict funding of embryonic stem cell research. In their preliminary announcement of ceremony scheduled for Monday, White House representatives portrayed Obama's upcoming executive order as a "return to scientific integrity in government." Implied in this characterization is that religiously informed ideology has been used to restrict scientific inquiry for political ends. But in so marginalizing religiously informed critiques of public policy, Obama is unintentionally spinning a kind of religious narrative of his own that has equally sectarian implications. For the sake of brevity, let us call this narrative "Obama's stem cell temptations." tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2009:/onfaith/susan_brooks_thistlethwaite//303.42219 2009-03-06T22:33:47Z 2009-03-10T13:36:18Z

There is a clear moral imperative, shared across many religions, to relieve suffering and promote healing. This is a strong ground on which to base religious arguments for embryonic stem cell research.

Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite to do this research. In addition, are there moral insights that can help us develop guidelines for the research?]]> tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2009:/onfaith/cal_thomas//290.42235 2009-03-10T13:29:48Z 2009-03-10T13:34:59Z

It's peculiar that President Obama sees himself as a "person of faith" when it comes to lifting restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, but he is an agnostic when it comes to abortion. Apparently, Obama's faith serves his politics and not the reverse.

Cal Thomas It's peculiar that President Obama sees himself as a "person of faith" when it comes to lifting restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, but he is an agnostic when it comes to abortion. Apparently, Obama's faith serves his politics and not the reverse. According to the president, science, not faith, is to be primary, thus placing science ahead of God. We have seen the horrors humankind has visited on itself when science becomes primary and sacrosanct (even though science has often been wrong). One thinks of Dr. Josef Mengele's experimentation on Jews, twins and all sorts of other people deemed by this medical scientist as being less than human and thus subject to his twisted scientific interpretations. Politicians love to use faith when it is convenient and ignore it when it isn't. Numerous Democratic politicians oppose capital punishment for convicted murderers, but will do nothing to stop the capital punishment of the unborn, the most innocent and weakest among us. It is a fraud perpetrated on the people and while some people may justify committing an evil act (killing embryos) for supposedly good ends (curing Parkinson's Disease and other ailments), God is not mocked and sees through even the most clever politician. It ought to disturb all of us that the value of human life continues to decline nearly as fast as the stock market. tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2009:/onfaith/willis_e_elliott//504.42234 2009-03-10T04:09:34Z 2009-03-10T13:22:50Z

Human life begins at conception: each conceptus and embryo is a human being. But the pre-fetal stages of human life should be open to scientific study and medical use.

Willis E. Elliott When he lifted the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, President Obama said, 'As a person of faith...I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research...and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly." Do you agree? Yes. I, as also a person of faith, agree. 1.....While the President is an evangelical-liberal Christian, the "faith" his statement specifies is that God the Creator has "given" humanity a gift which we treat "responsibly" when we "pursue this [embryonic stem cell] research" with "humanity and conscience." Negatively put, the executive order he signed today revoked a spiritually, morally, intellectually, and politically irresponsible POLICY. 1.1.....Revoked what was spiritually irresponsible. Rightly, Obama's reference to deity was indirect and in the passive voice: he is not a preacher, and does well to avoid sounding like one. I am a preacher, and translate into religious language what he said: God gives humanity gifts, and expects us to use them for the common good. To the extent that government hinders citizens from developing and using God's gifts, government is against the will of God.]]> tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2009:/onfaith/david_saperstein//267.42233 2009-03-10T12:36:45Z 2009-03-11T13:16:13Z

Jewish tradition requires that we use all available knowledge to heal the ill, and "when one delays in doing so, it is as if he has shed blood" (Shulchan Aruch, Yorei De`ah 336:1--the authoritative 16th century code of Jewish Law).

David Saperstein In giving government support to promising research utilizing stem cells, which can enhance the life and health of millions of Americans, President Obama has shown not just political courage, but a moral vision that resonates with deep religious reverence for life. This decision resonates with the Jewish tradition, in which preserving life and promoting health are among the most precious of values. Indeed, almost any law must be broken to save a human life (a doctrine known as "pikuach nefesh," "saving a soul"). Our tradition requires that we use all available knowledge to heal the ill, and "when one delays in doing so, it is as if he has shed blood" (Shulchan Aruch, Yorei De`ah 336:1 -- the authoritative 16th century code of Jewish Law). tag:newsweek.washingtonpost.com,2009:/onfaith/susan_jacoby//328.42231 2009-03-10T11:59:57Z 2009-03-10T13:28:55Z

The same human reason that propels science can also erect ethical barriers to certain medical practices; the "slippery slope" is inevitable only if we are too stupid or too cowardly to make important moral distinctions.

Susan Jacoby I am of course pleased with President Obama's decision to end the near-total ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research imposed by the Bush administration. I also agree with Obama's contention that we can conduct all scientific research with ample awareness of ethical considerations. The same human reason that propels science can also erect ethical barriers to certain medical practices; the "slippery slope" is inevitable only if we are too stupid or too cowardly to make important moral distinctions.