X-Message-Number: 31266
From: 
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:13:38 EST
Subject: The Vatican gets it wrong once again...Arguably on topic 

Content-Language: en

Hello, Folks,
 
The moral geniuses who gave you the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and  
the proscription against rational use of birth control are at again.  I  will 

cut and paste the following, hoping the formatting is fairly  serviceable.  But
I would contend this type of information is on topic for  cryonet.  The type 
of thinking represented by the Vatican is DEFINITELY a  threat to life 
extension AND cryonics.
Copying follows: By the way, CFI is the "CENTER FOR INQUIRY."  I am a  proud 
supporter, and just provided a donation in support of these folks who are  at 
the bulwarks of the "culture wars."
 
 
 
CFI Calls VaticanaC s Position on Biomedical Technology Deplorable and  
Scientifically Insupportable
December 12, 2008
In a move designed to firm up faith-based opposition to embryonic stem cell  
research and other cutting-edge biomedical technologies, the Vatican has  

released a 32-page document titled aC Dignitas PersonaeaC  aC" meaning aC the 
dignity of 

 a person.aC  The document condemns a host of procedures considered aC immoralaC
 by  the Catholic Church, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), the freezing of 
 unfertilized eggs, embryonic stem cell research, and the testing of embryos 
to  help identify those with defects.  
The Center for Inquiry, a think tank headquartered in Amherst, New York that  
supports research on bioethical questions, deplores the VaticanaC s 

pronouncement.  The VaticanaC s position has no justification other than 
religious 

doctrine,  according to the Center for Inquiry, and may have a serious adverse 
effect 
on  scientific research and the development of medical therapies.  
aC I regret the renewed effort by the Vatican to censoraC”indeed  prohibitaC”

research in reproductive science,aC  said Paul Kurtz, chairman and  founder of 
the 

Center for Inquiry. aC Do we have to wage the Galileo battle again?  The Vatican

claims that their objections are aC moral,aC  but they are based on a  
theological 
doctrine that a formless fertilized egg is a full human being, a  position 

which most scientists reject.aC  Kurtz says there is a need to defend  freedom 
of 
scientific research and the positive good that can ensue for  countless 
numbers of infertile couples. aC The effort to curtail stem cell  research is 

especially disturbing in the view of the possible beneficent results  for 
improving 
human health,aC  he said.  
The Vatican has focused on commonplace scientific technologies used in the  

United States and elsewhere, which the Church believes demean human aC 
dignity,aC  

 and bring humans perilously close to aC playing God.aC  The Church continues to
 hold  steadfast to its key theological proclamation that aC life begins at 

conception,aC   thereby rendering as aC illicitaC  the use of embryos or 
fertilized 
eggs in research  or otherwise, including IVF for married Catholic couples 
wishing to conceive.  
Dr. Ronald A. Lindsay, president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry (and  
author of the book _Future  Bioethics: Overcoming Taboos, Myths, and Dogmas_ 


(http://www.prometheusbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1838)

) said that aC the  Vatican has once again manifested its regrettable preference
for religious  doctrine over science. Until roughly fourteen days after 

conception, one cannot  even meaningfully refer to the embryo as an individual, 
let 
alone the equivalent  of an adult human, since both twinning and fusion are 

possible until that  point.aC  Lindsay added that the VaticanaC s rejection of 
IVF 
on the ground that it  results in the discarding of embryos is especially 
ironic since from 60 to 80  percent of embryos conceived aC naturallyaC  are 

spontaneously aborted. aC If the  Vatican wants to prevent embryos from 
aC~dying,aC  then 
they will have to instruct  couples to avoid sex completely.aC   

aC The bottom line,aC  says Lindsay, aC is that the Vatican is telling those who
need medical assistance to seek help from theology, not therapy.aC   
End copying.   

Rudi Richard Hoffman CFP CLU ChFC

Board Member Financial  Planning Association fpafla.com
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Member National Rifle Association  nra.org
Member World Transhumanist Association  http://transhumanism.org/
World's Leading Cryonics Insurance Provider  rudihoffman.com

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