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On the subject of cloning, people often tend to fear, to second guess medical intentions, to try to control and prevent this “mistake,” and to assume that humans could only use such a technological power for doing wrong.
I ask you to set aside your fears of human degradation, Nazi clones and Frankensteinish experiments for one moment. Replace these ideas with equally imaginative positive possibilities of cloning: a reversal of old age, an end to heart attacks, prevention of mental disorders and cures for cancer. These may be hypothetical expectations, but no more so than the thoughts of ethical disaster and worldwide doom. Cloning isn’t the prelude to certain Armageddon.
Like numerous other medical advances, cloning poses risks and has not yet been perfected. This does not warrant its removal from scientific study and use. Although human cloning currently poses great risks to the fetus, in the future scientific research will likely find solutions to human cloning problems. When this occurs, and humans can safely be cloned, the old adage will ring: “Humans should not play God.” As far as I can tell from Humanities 111, 112 and 113, humans have been playing God since the Paleolithic period (creating hunting tools and making wall carvings used to bring luck to the hunts) and haven’t stopped since.
Many people think of God as the human creator, but he/she is also the creator of inanimate objects such as rocks. Therefore if I harden a piece of clay by putting it in the oven, am I playing God? If so, then we have an art class here at Pepperdine dedicated to playing God — ceramics. Also if this is true then humans play God when they build cars to travel faster than the speed their feet can take them. Humans play God by taking birth control to regulate menstrual systems and prevent pregnancy. Humans play God by taking vitamin supplements rather than just eating the natural foods that provide those vitamins. Upon catching a case of meningitis at 12, I was kept alive by medicines and intravenous needles — I’m quite thankful the doctors and nurses were willing to play God.
The brunt of the issue for those who oppose cloning is their dedicated resolve for the protection of the “natural ways” of God.
I think it is fear.
Science is a mystery even to scientists. Sadly though, science is more of a mystery than it needs to be for the public. I know all of the Ten Commandments, those have been reiterated to me since I was four, but concerning scientific laws, mostly all I know is that what goes up must come down.
Historically, people in ignorance have often feared scientific discovery and advance. Fear often derives from ignorance. This is why so many people have warned about fear. Such as when Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” or the Seneca writing “If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living.”
Conquering fear is not to say that one should not be cautious. American scientists and politicians realize the need for prudence. In the last decade two major national reports on cloning have been written, one by the National Bioethics Advisory Commission and the other by the National Academy of Sciences. Both groups plan to continue research and discussion on the ethical and social questions of cloning. The government has a President’s Council on Bioethics. If people want information on cloning and public discussions on the subject, this information can be found at www.bioethics.gov.
Foresight and caution should not stop scientific study and advance. At some point a risk must be taken if anything is going to be gained. Bertrand Russell wrote in “What I Believe,” “Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver . . . in the end, the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor all of their own.”
The key to courageously facing the unknown is to steadily move forward and cautiously consider the effects of actions.
Ethicists must study science and science must understand morals and ethics. In an essay in “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out,” Richard Feynman writes, “Western civilization, it seems to me, stands by two great heritages. One is the scientific spirit of adventure … the other great heritage is Christian ethics.” Then he poses the question, “How can we draw inspiration to support these two pillars of Western civilization so that they may stand together in full vigor, mutually unafraid?”
Perhaps the subject of cloning is the issue that will push society to discover the answer to this question.
Submitted January 30, 2003
MALIBU, CA
