Examining bioethics, morality, and culture from a distinctively orthodox Lutheran perspective. Site dedicated to the Holy Family.
Posted in Uncategorized on Apr 21st, 2009
A post in today’s Secondhand Smoke reminded me of the importance of using the word “embryo” to refer to human life from conception through the eighth week of development, when it is called a fetus. In the post blog author, attorney, and bioethicist Wesley J. Smith provides an interesting quote from “The Triumph of the [...]
Although I have not done this before, I thought I would post the National Right to Life Committee’s entire April 17 press release expressing their concerns about a possible end-game of embryonic stem cell research: human cloning. For immediate release: Friday, April 17, 2009 For more information: Federal Legislation Department (202) 626-8820; legfederal@aol.com Communications Department [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Apr 20th, 2009
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a video is worth 100,000 (did I get the math right, Christian? ). Here’s a CNN video of President Obama, and his press secretary, Mr. Robert Gibbs, fielding reporters’ questions about Cabinet-level cutbacks:
Posted in Uncategorized on Apr 20th, 2009
According to the April 18 The New York Times, the Federal Bureau of Investigation hopes to increase its 6.7 million DNA profile data base to 1.2 million new entries per year by 2012. That’s a lot of data on a lot of people. How do they propose to accomplish this? Until now, the federal government [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Apr 20th, 2009
A question by Christian at Smaller Manhattans got me to thinking and digging around a bit. Here’s what I found: an interview with Andrew J. Cherlin, author of The Marriage Go-Round: The State of Marriage and the Family in America Today (Random House, April 14, 2009). Although I’ve not read the book, Cherlin’s answer to [...]
Posted in SCNT, Uncategorized on Apr 20th, 2009
The Obama Administration is having difficulty swallowing the April 15 Tea Party, which according to the Christian Science Monitor hosted over a half-million participants nationwide. Today’s The Washington Post reports that the president, apparently a coffee drinker, will order [Cabinet] members to identify a combined $100 million in budget cuts over the next 90 days. [...]
According to this April 18 article in The Washington Post, the Obama administration on Friday issued compromise rules on federally-funded embryonic stem cell research. The rules would limit research, paid for by taxpayers, to using “excess” embryos voluntarily donated by their parents/owners and offered without remuneration. These embryos are now cryogenically stored in IVF and [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Apr 19th, 2009
In the “definition of marriage” department, The lifelong union of one man to one woman for the purposes of procreation and mutual aid does not equal The occasional unions of one person to another person(s) for the purposes of pleasure and companionship Just thought you’d like to know.
Posted in Uncategorized on Apr 19th, 2009
In a post-Cartesian, Heisenberg-friendly attempt to account for human consciousness’s effects on our universe, now comes Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are Keys to Understanding the Universe, by Robert Lanza and Bob Berman (Benbella Books, May, 2009). According to an April 17 synopsis of the book in The Scientist (registration required), Our current scientific model [...]
Neurobiologist Dr. Maureen L. Condic’s April 16 “Does Research Really Need Human Embryos and Cloning?” in The Daily Beast is a must read. Here’s an excerpt: Claim: Human embryonic stem-cell research involves only embryos that will be discarded by fertility clinics. False. Human-embryo cloning is the endgame. HESC proponents are now advocating for tax funding [...]
The Reverend Robert C. Baker, B.B.A, M.Div., M.S., is an ordained pastor in The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, and serves as an adjunct professor of philosophy at Lindenwood University's Belleville, IL campus. He is general editor of Natural Law: A Lutheran Reappraisal (CPH, 2011), author of "Natural Law, Human Sexuality, and Forde's 'Acid Test'" appearing in that volume, is the author of What Happened To Merry Christmas?, and has authored or edited numerous Bible studies and books.
