Proponents of stem-cell research believe that it may be the secret to curing infertility, genetic imperfection and neurological degeneration, and on the premise of this supposition, have lobbied vigorously to prevent legislation that would protect embryos from harvest and use in research, espousing the idea that:
"Criminalizing human reproductive cloning in the United States will only make it less safe and more costly for these infertile couples. They will be forced to travel outside the United States to pursue their dream of creating a family. After all, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), infertility is a disability and reproduction is a major life activity for the purposes of the ADA (Bragdon v. Abbott, 118 S.Ct 2196; 1998). In light of this, it is the right of each and every American citizen to bear a child." (Speeches, 21)
In spite of this, there were very few legislative efforts which successfully established protection for the embryos that could be harvested for the creation of stem-cell lines during the previous decade. President Bush's withdrawal of the possibility of future funding for such processes was in many ways a strictly Christian political initiative, designed with the underlying imperative in protecting the unborn child from the dangers of technological amorality. In terms of outright banishment, "only a minority of states have enacted laws restricting experimentation on the unborn; in some of these, the relevant restrictions are designed to protect fetuses destined for abortion and do not apply to embryos." (Kaveny, 136) But public policy would have the effect under the Bush administration of driving both funding priorities and the scientific culture according to Christian value system, rendering a stultifying effect to medical progress while improving Bush's political standing with his Christian core of voters.
President Bush's support of limiting parameters around the expansion of stem-cell research was ideologically concurrent with the prevailing views of many of his supporters in the public, in Washington, D.C. And in the lobbyist communities that had rallied around him. Thus, the nation's policy during his tenure would take on a decidedly protectionist approach to the implementation of new and unproved medical technology, directly in line with the pervasive revival of religious observation and moralized legislative desire in the U.S.
This impetus would also have a severely damaging effect on the distribution of public funding as well, with the Bush administration applying a religious prejudice to the way that public money would be distributed to outreach groups, public agencies and community outlets. The faith based initiative had been a key promise from the Bush administration to its supporters during the 2000 election in particular. Underwritten to the principles of the faith based initiative was the prioritization of funding for religious institutions with public money, with a number of conditions attached. The most troubling of these would be revealed in a court victory for the Bush Administration in 2005, which both demonstrated the sense of discrimination cited by many groups against this use of public money, and which simultaneously reaffirmed a political and judicial structure that had aligned with Bush's religious impositions. To the point, "Bush's big victory came Sept. 30 in New York, where a federal judge threw out most elements of a religious discrimination...
With the production of Dolly, we also entered a vast technological frontier of possibilities. The cloned sheep "was born after nuclear transfer from a mammary gland cell, the first mammal to develop from a cell derived from adult tissue." Taking a cell containing 98 per cent of the DNA, or its genetic blueprint, from the udder of a six-year-old adult sheep, they fused it to the egg of another
Examples where religion has become intersected with politics are present throughout the entire history, and in more recent years, include the debates on same sex marriages or on abortion. A more specific look at the relationship between politics and religion has revealed at least three points of intersection -- the role of churches, the evolution of human rights and the emergence and impacts of religious conflicts. In terms of the
"Even in an era that's more accepting of spirituality, the prospect of religion seeping into secular institutions, especially corporate ones, makes many uneasy" (Conlin 1999). To tread a delicate balance between showing respect for religious differences and still allowing and encouraging spiritual and ethical concerns to be discussed in the workplace can be difficult. To do so "most companies and executives are careful to stick to a cross-denominational, hybrid message
Even though the lines may be quite bold between democrats and republicans, the BBC found that 65% of Americans believe "churches should not endorse candidates," and 51% agree that "churches should express views on political matters" (Greene 2002-2008, graphics box). IV. Summary/Conclusion The question of whether or not a candidate's personal religious beliefs should be used on the campaign trail is a problematic one, with two equally valid points-of-view. Those who
Glynn concludes that fundamentalists exist not only in the Creationism Camp, but in the Evolutionism camp as well, regretting the unfortunate irony that Evolutionism Fundamentalists are attempting to suffocate constructive dialogue in much the same way Catholic Priests did in the past. e. Thomas Demere and Steve Walsh -- Creationism Should Not Be Taught In Public Schools Demere and Walsh argue that teaching a non-disprovable theory like Creationism would further weaken
When a president of the United States begins incorporating religious rhetoric into his speeches, alarm bells must sound. When that same president allocates taxpayer monies to religious groups, then citizens should be experiencing widespread panic. Bush's No Child Left Behind Act is no less frightening than the faith-based initiative. Hiding behind good intentions, the No Child Left Behind Act fails to take into account a major factor: reality. Jim Donlevy
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