THE IDEA THAT HUMANS MIGHT SOME DAY BE CLONED -- ARTIFICIALLY CREATED FROM A SINGLE HUMAN CELL, WITHOUT SEXUAL REPRODUCTION -- HAS POSED A SOCIAL AND ETHICAL CHALLENGE TO THE WORLD. THE POSSIBILITY HAS BECOME REAL SINCE THE RECENT NEWS THAT SCOTTISH SCIENTISTS HAVE CLONED AN ADULT FEMALE SHEEP -- THE FIRST TIME AN EXACT GENETIC COPY OF A MAMMAL HAS BEEN MADE. ALTHOUGH THE GENERAL CONSENSUS SEEMS TO BE REJECTION OF CLONING PEOPLE, THERE IS NO UNANIMITY OVER IT. THEOLOGIANS ARE AMONG THOSE DIVIDED.ONCE AGAIN, A NEW TECHNOLOGY HAS EVOKED BROAD DEBATE ON ITS MORAL IMPLICATIONS. IN SUCH TIMES, THE WORLD LOOKS TO THEOLOGIANS, AMONG OTHERS, FOR GUIDANCE. ALTHOUGH ONE MIGHT EXPECT THEM TO UNITE AGAINST HUMAN CLONING AS A BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE NATURAL REPRODUCTIVE PROCESS, THIS IS NOT THE CASE.
U-S CHRISTIAN, ISLAMIC, AND JEWISH THINKERS DISAGREE ON THE PROSPECT, AND EXPRESSED THEIR DIFFERENCES RECENTLY TO A PANEL OF EXPERTS ADVISING PRESIDENT CLINTON ON THE ISSUE. THE CHRISTIANS -- BOTH ROMAN CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT -- URGED A BAN ON HUMAN CLONING. BUT ISLAMIC AND JEWISH SPOKESMEN VOICED A CAUTIOUS TOLERANCE, ENVISIONING MORAL APPLICATIONS OF THE TECHNIQUE.
FOR GILBERT MEILANDER ['MY-LAND-DER] -- A PROTESTANT LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN FROM VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY IN INDIANA -- REPRODUCTION IS THE PROVINCE OF A LOVING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN, A CONDITION CLONING PRECLUDES.
A CHILD IS A GIFT, SAYS MR. MEILANDER, NOT A PRODUCT.
WHAT PROTESTANTS THOUGHT THEY FOUND IN THE BIBLE WAS A NORMATIVE VIEW -- NAMELY THAT THE SEXUAL DIFFERENTIATION IS ORDERED TOWARD THE CREATION OF OFFSPRING AND THE CHILDREN SHOULD BE CONCEIVED WITHIN THAT MARITAL UNION. BY GOD'S GRACE, THE CHILD IS A GIFT WHO SPRINGS FROM THE GIVING AND RECEIVING OF LOVE. MARRIAGE AND PARENTHOOD ARE CONNECTED, HELD TOGETHER IN A BASIC FORM OF HUMANITY.
A TEN YEAR OLD PRONOUNCEMENT OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH EXPRESSES A SIMILAR VIEW. IT SAYS ATTEMPTS TO OBTAIN A HUMAN BEING THROUGH TECHNIQUES INCLUDING CLONING ARE CONTRARY TO MORAL LAW, SINCE THEY ARE IN OPPOSITION TO THE DIGNITY BOTH OF HUMAN PROCREATION AND THE CONJUGAL UNION.
ALBERT MORACZEWSKI ['MORE-UH-'SHEF-SKEE] OF THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS POINTS OUT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT HUMANS WERE GIVEN THE POWER TO ALTER THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY COME INTO EXISTENCE.
WHILE THIS TECHNOLOGY MAY BE A HELPFUL CONTRIBUTION TO ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND THE PRODUCTION OF MEDICINAL SUBSTANCES, IT IS ENTIRELY UNSUITABLE FOR HUMAN PROCREATION -- EVEN UNDER EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES.
BUT JEWISH AND ISLAMIC THEOLOGIANS DEPARTED FROM THIS VIEW IN THEIR COMMENTS TO THE BIOETHICS ADVISORY COMMISSION.
MOSHE TENDLER OF YESHIVA UNIVERSITY IN NEW YORK, EXPRESSING A JEWISH PERSPECTIVE, SAID ONLY THE MOST REPREHENSIBLE USES OF HUMAN CLONING SHOULD BE BANNED. THESE INCLUDE REPRODUCING PEOPLE TO USE THEIR ORGANS FOR TRANSPLANTATION AND DESTROYING THEM AFTERWARDS -- OR FOR THE VAIN REASON OF CREATING AN INDIVIDUAL IN ONE'S IMAGE.
BUT HE SAYS HUMAN CLONING CAN HAVE MORAL AND THERAPEUTIC USES IF CARRIED OUT UNDER STRICT GUIDANCE AND REVIEW BY MEDICAL BOARDS AND THE LARGER COMMUNITY. THE INFERTILE COUPLE COULD BENEFIT, FOR EXAMPLE. CLONING COULD ALSO PRESERVE A FAMILY LINE FOR WHOM THERE IS ONLY ONE SURVIVOR -- AS MAY HAVE BEEN THE CASE FOLLOWING THE NAZI HOLOCAUST.
THEOLOGIAN ELLIOT DORFF OF THE UNIVERSITY OF JUDAISM IN LOS ANGELES CONCURS.
IT WOULD BE, I THINK, NOT IN CHARACTER OF THE JEWISH TRADITION FOR US TO HAVE A TECHNOLOGY THAT IS AVAILABLE AND THAT DOES HAVE REAL PROMISE -- NOT TO USE IT, I THINK, WOULD NOT BE IN CONSONANCE WITH GENERAL JEWISH THEOLOGICAL TRADITION. AT THE SAME, WE ARE SUPPOSED TO WORK IN THE WORLD AND ALSO TO PRESERVE IT. SO HENCE, THE NEED FOR SOME CAREFUL THINKING ABOUT WHAT KINDS OF RESTRICTIONS WOULD BE APPROPRIATE.
ISLAMIC THEOLOGIAN AZIZ SACHEDINA ['SOCK-UH-'DEE-NUH] OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SAYS THE USEFULNESS OF HUMAN CLONING AND OTHER REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES CAN BE JUSTIFIED BY THE TEACHINGS OF THE KORAN. HE SAYS IT ASSERTS THAT HUMANS ARE PARTICIPANTS IN THE ACT OF CREATION WITH GOD, AND CAN PROMOTE OVERALL WELFARE BY INTERVENING IN ACTS OF NATURE.
HUMAN MANIPULATION OF GENES MADE POSSIBLE BY TECHNICAL INTERVENTION IN THE EARLY STAGES OF LIFE IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF THE FETUS, OR CLONING IN THE MEANING OF EMBRYO SPLITTING FOR THE PURPOSES OF IMPROVING THE CHANCES OF FERTILITY FOR A MARRIED COUPLE, IS REGARDED AS AN ACT OF FAITH IN THE ULTIMATE WILL OF GOD AS THE GIVER OF ALL LIFE.
WHILE THE THEOLOGIANS' VIEWS ARE A GUIDE TO THEIR TRADITIONS, THEY CONCEDE THEY DO NOT SPEAK FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THEIR FAITHS. THE JEWISH THINKERS APPEARING BEFORE THE PRESIDENT'S ADVISORY PANEL CONTRADICT ISRAEL'S CHIEF RABBI, MEIR LAU [RHYMES WITH "HOW"], WHO SAYS CLONING ANY LIVING ORGANISM IS AGAINST JEWISH LAW. SIMILARLY, THEOLOGIAN ABDELOMO'TI BAYYUMI OF CAIRO'S AL-AZHAR UNIVERSITY -- A SCHOOL WHICH IS THE SUPREME AUTHORITY ON SUNNI ISLAM -- SAYS THE RELIGION FORBIDS CLONING.
OUT OF THIS DEBATE, PRESIDENT CLINTON'S BIOETHICS ADVISORY COMMISSION MUST MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS AS TO WHETHER OR NOT HE SHOULD CONTINUE HIS BAN ON GOVERNMENT FUNDING FOR HUMAN CLONING RESEARCH AND TRY TO IMPOSE A PRIVATE PROHIBITION AS WELL.
17-Mar-97
Source: Voice of America