[Mishmash] Explain please!

[Fred Atkinson]

    Then if it is a matter of scientific responsibility, that alone should be enough to can it.  Forget the rest.  



                                                                Fred 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Richard Barth 
  To: Mishmash 
  Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 6:37 PM
  Subject: Re: [Mishmash] Explain please!


  At 11:26 PM 6/24/2007, you wrote:

        Is it a religious or political matter?  Or is it a matter of scientific responsibility?  ...

                                                    Fred Atkinson 


  Unfortunately, Fred, it's all three.  Many of today's decisions regarding medical research are being made by politicians with no scientific training and in total disregard of the advice they're being given by knowledgeable scientists.  They are made, instead, on the basis on what will sell to significant segments of the electorate and, as Robyne notes below, "the Decider's" religious beliefs.  The United States is not a theocracy and must not become one.  One Iran is enough.  We don't need a U.S. Taliban.

  Anyone who has been following the news over the past few years is aware that similar problems are being seen in relation to other areas of science. Global warming is being largely ignored because it is politically and economically inconvenient to deal with it, and in some cases by religious people who are convinced that the end of time (a.k.a. "the Rapture") is at hand and what happens to the Earth doesn't really matter anyway.

  Medical ethics is a major concern in today's world.  Doctors, like anyone else, are human and some yield to the temptation to build their own reputations and further their own financial interests at the expense of their research and their patients.  Scientific decisions should not, however, be made by non-specialists on the basis of their personal religious beliefs.  Limitations on research (as opposed to the use of its results) should be limited only by the public consequences of the research itself.  Whether the results of research justify its use is a separate questions that cannot be addressed until the results are known.

  Dick



                         

      ----- Original Message ----- 

      From: Robyne Kerr 

      To: Mishmash 

      Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2007 10:24 PM

      Subject: Re: [Mishmash] Explain please!


      I don't see it as so black and white and I am thankful for medical science for their work during my life time. I feel it should be a scientific matter and not a religious or political matter.


      Robyne



         Yes, we humans who've only been around for a few thousands years know more about evolution that took millions of years.  We should be tampering with God's handiwork like we can understand that in a few years of medical school that it makes them an expert qualified to tamper with millions of years of evolution. 



            Regards,



                                                                            Fred


          ----- Original Message -----


          From: Robyne Kerr


          To: Mishmash


          Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2007 8:59 PM


          Subject: Re: [Mishmash] Explain please!


            I agree they are having the same problem here in Australia the head of the Roman Catholic Church here is even saying if the practising catholic government ministers vote for it they won't be able to have communion... I too want the parliament to be open minded with something as important as this. Let logic not religious beliefs be used when making decisions.


          Robyne




             At 09:31 PM 6/21/2007, you wrote:


              Can someone on this list please explain to me the moral virtue of the President vetoing the bill for Stem Cell Research.  I hate thinking his reasons are that God will send him to hell without an electric fan is he signs it into law.  Is there some trap door to this being made into law that I haven't caught on to?  The benefits seem to have a very high ceiling.  And there are also other discoveries that science hasn't even thought of that come from these things too.  I try to be open minded, but I don't want a veto on religious grounds.  Let Iran do that.  The answer should be right or wrong for the country.   Not heaven or hell.



              Gale



          I agree completely.  You may, however, have trouble convincing Mr. Bush.



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