Re: [asa] Will science always find a way?

I'm not sure I like the tone Bottum takes in this essay. Well, I'm pretty
sure I *don't* like some of the tone. It is too much in the culture war
vein of faith vs. science.

And yet, there's a ring of truth to it. It is absolutely true that anyone
who opposed embryonic stem cell research on moral / religious grounds was /
is branded as anti-science and was / is lumped with the "creationists" and
other "ignorant fundamentalists."

For those of us who are morally repulsed by notion of harvesting cells from
discarded human embryos -- or worse, by the prospect of growing disposable
embryos specifically for the purpose of harvesting cells -- there is a
delicious irony in the fact that science seems to have provided an excellent
alternative from ordinary skin cells.

And there is a lesson from innovation theory as well: foreclosing a line of
inquiry on ethical / moral grounds doesn't necessarily mean the entire area
of research is over. Very often, a change in the "environmental conditions"
of innovation forces new innovation in previously unexpected directions.
I'm inclined to see this new breakthough as a gift from God.

On Nov 28, 2007 8:00 PM, Randy Isaac <randyisaac@comcast.net> wrote:

> What do you make of today's WSJ op-ed piece by the editor of First
> Things?
> http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110010915
>
> I'm not sure we can say it can be universally expected that "science will
> always find a way." Yes, we should look but it's not a given.
>
> Also, what do you biochemistry experts say about the technical work?
>
> Randy
>

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Thu Nov 29 08:02:51 2007