Talking Religion with Stem Cells
Thanks to Hayden for inspiring (?) this long awaited (more than 12 hours) “poem” with her informed comments about stem cell research on recent discussion threads. The opinions expressed in this poem are not necessarily hers. Any resemblance between the stem cells featured here to any actual stem cells, living or deceased, is strictly coincidental, although they do look a lot alike. The poem is a collective “work for hire” based on contractual arrangement between the author and his brain cells. Offer void where prohibited.
The Great Stem Cell Debate
For Hayden
I met a little stem cell
Who said, “I’m human too.
“It’s possible I could divide
“And then feel pain, like you.”
“Right now,” I said, “You’re like… the same,
“That is, as all your neighbors.
“Undifferentiated as can be –
“You’re lamer than an egg is.”
“An Egg’s not lame!” Sir Stem replied,
“And no, nor Sperm Cells neither.
“If they met, they would divide
“And be like you and me are.”
“I’m not like you,” I countered,
“Please note who wrote this poem.
“Without my fingers at the keys
“No words would you intone.”
“I am a full-fledged Cell!” cried Stem,
“So stop your condescension;
“I hold my rights unconsciously –
“And in God’s name, I’ll mention...”
“But what of us!?” my cells rejoined,
They really were dismayed;
They’d multiplied already
And had a lot to say.
“One hundred trillion of us live
“In just one human being –
“That is, the kind that walks and talks
“And likes the taste of ice cream.”
“Without the needed research
“We prematurely die;
“You’re telling us God likes you best…
“How come – is God a scientist?!”
“Maybe up in heaven, then,
“God’s researching a fix
“For fuzzy stem-cell thinking –
“The kind that makes us sick.”
With that, my cells had had enough,
We had to call it quits;
By now we’re mostly bedridden
Like Petri in a dish.
-- Paul Martin
The Great Stem Cell Debate
For Hayden
I met a little stem cell
Who said, “I’m human too.
“It’s possible I could divide
“And then feel pain, like you.”
“Right now,” I said, “You’re like… the same,
“That is, as all your neighbors.
“Undifferentiated as can be –
“You’re lamer than an egg is.”
“An Egg’s not lame!” Sir Stem replied,
“And no, nor Sperm Cells neither.
“If they met, they would divide
“And be like you and me are.”
“I’m not like you,” I countered,
“Please note who wrote this poem.
“Without my fingers at the keys
“No words would you intone.”
“I am a full-fledged Cell!” cried Stem,
“So stop your condescension;
“I hold my rights unconsciously –
“And in God’s name, I’ll mention...”
“But what of us!?” my cells rejoined,
They really were dismayed;
They’d multiplied already
And had a lot to say.
“One hundred trillion of us live
“In just one human being –
“That is, the kind that walks and talks
“And likes the taste of ice cream.”
“Without the needed research
“We prematurely die;
“You’re telling us God likes you best…
“How come – is God a scientist?!”
“Maybe up in heaven, then,
“God’s researching a fix
“For fuzzy stem-cell thinking –
“The kind that makes us sick.”
With that, my cells had had enough,
We had to call it quits;
By now we’re mostly bedridden
Like Petri in a dish.
-- Paul Martin
Posted by Paul at 10:58 AM Permalink
16 Comments:
I don't quite know the illogic that attracts some people to defend stem cells with such passion, but there might be some research into the psychology of fundamentalist religious thinking that addresses that issue.
NEUROCRITIC: I've had that thought too - that far right religiosity may be best understood from a psychological perspective. With stem cells, I think that for a lot of people it's also or even entirely a matter of misinformation.
That said, if there really is a pro-stem-cell-life argument that makes some sense, I'd like to hear it.
come to my blog to check out my famousness Paul :):)
Keshi.
"Every sperm is sacred.
Every sperm is great.
If a sperm is wasted,
God gets quite irate!"
or perhaps their song All Things Dull and Ugly?
"All things sick and cancerous,
All evil great and small,
All things foul and dangerous,
The Lord God made them all.
All things scabbed and ulcerous,
All pox both great and small,
Putrid, foul, and gangrenous,
The Lord God made them all."
HOMEYESCAPEONS: Sounds like Monty Python to me... Wonder why it is that the Brits appear generally OK with religous humor, but a smaller percent of Americans.
Canada... somewhere in-between?
As far as I'm concerned, both your verses make sense. The failure to distinguish potential for human life from human life; and, if you're going to acknowledge God for the good stuff, you either have to find a way to honestly acknowledge the bad stuff too, obfuscate (a fine word...) or invent a God of Odious Objectionables.
As for me, I say everyone but pregnant women should stop eating. Every single thing on your plate has the potential to become embryonic life. What can non pregnant people be thinking? How can we be so callous and selfish?
Eating is fine - just make sure you cook it to death first! ;-)
Point is to get there, find ways-means of regeneration and cure fast,thru stem cells if thts what it takes, without compromising on matters we hold dear as human beings.
In India, the government has not banned ESC research on religious or ethical grounds,it is under ‘restricted’ ctaegory. Research continues but scope and application of research remains subject to approval.
Research pertaining to adult and umbilical cord blood stem cell is ‘permissible’ here.
Shanthu Shantharam(Biologistics International, Ellicott City,US) rprsnts the Indian scientists' stand:”The scientific community in India must assert its role…science will not be the underpinning of...regulations.”Our myth-epic-religious texts abound in regeneration refs,but funding's a snag here
Everything rots and dies in this world, and the process that "creates" it all is completely indifferent to the well-being or survival of any and every biological form.
Which means that you cant "prove" the existence of god by pointing to the mystery of cellular processes or even the fleating beauty of flowers or anything else.
But then again ALL of this appears in The Divine Conscious Light that IS Reality.
I don't know that "indifferent" is the best word to apply to nature's processes of generativity and complexification. Animals don't appear indifferent when fighting for their lives, for example.
Is your closing statment a matter of belief? Experience? Hypothesis?
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