Religious Opposition to Cloning - Essay Example

Religious opposition to cloning As science becomes more real in our modern world, various controversial discoveries have been made, which in religious opinion, they are not right. Cloning is one such aspect where most religious people are not of this idea. Religion refers to such aspects as ‘Playing God.’ Unfortunately, the religious leaders, or rather spiritual leaders never speak in the same voice about this issue. The fist cloning was done on a sheep named Dolly in the year 1997. The result of this was a heated debate by both scientists and religious leaders concerning the same issue. Many did not have enough information as to whether it was right and ethical and thus ended up looking for guidance from religious texts (Bradley). While some people condemned the act, others found it as a great discovery in the field of science. Cloning versus religion The issue of cloning brings a lot of controversy in the religion world, especially to Christians, since they view God as the only superhuman who has the ability to make a human being. On the other hand, scientists have done extensive research on the stem cells, and they have been able to produce an exact copy of a human being using their stem cells. Some other religions have accepted the issue of cloning, but most Christians are still rigid about the same matter. However, some have accepted the use of cloned for research and other health reasons, but not for making other human beings. In addition, they have stated that it is completely unethical to make a similar human being from stem cells. Other than the aspects of producing other human beings, there is still an undebatable issue on ethics surrounding the same issue. Most of the Christian leaders are openly discussing the pros and cons of cloning and the new science that has lead to more controversial aspects. However, some of these discoveries could bring more hope to the human race especially in the field of health. The discussion on human cloning is wrapped around several main questions. One of the main questions is whether this issue will corrupt the traditional relationships in the families and lineage. Secondly, is the destruction of an embryo that has been fertilized, which can be termed as murder of human life? Lastly, is cloning tampering with what God has already created in a way that human beings are not allowed? (Bradley). What different religions say about cloning Having a position on cloning is actually an evaluation on the religious beliefs. For instance, some of the Muslims and Jews do not consider a fertilized embryo as having the status of a full human being. In this case, their beliefs allow the research into human cloning since destruction of a fertilized embryo will not be termed as murder. Discussing and arguing about cloning requires one to revisit some of the tradition teachings about life. The main question here is whether life starts at conception. One cannot evade that question when looking into this matter. To some religious scholars, however, reading certain texts dating decades of years back may not bring solution to the 21st scientific morality, while to others, they strongly depend on such texts to reach their conclusions about human cloning. The Jewish law claim to have relevance to any type of scientific technology. The Jewish law does not contradict or oppose the aspect of therapeutic cloning, it at all it is aimed at saving human life. This is the same case with the Jewish faith, which supports such discoveries a much as they are intended to benefit the world. They do not perceive therapeutic cloning as a way of stepping onto God’s toes. On the contrary, the Roman Catholic Scholars strongly condemn this act after they closely consulted the Bible and the Canon Law. The church began opposing any kind on human cloning back in the year 1987. A document referred to as ‘Donum Vitae’ postulated that the whole issue of cloning was contrary to moral laws because it opposes the dignity of human procreation and the aspects of conjugal union. This position has been held by the church until today. Other conservative churches also support this claim including the Southern Baptist. Nevertheless, there is still a great diversity in the opinions presented by the Christian fraternity concerning this major issue. To describe the different religious view on the issue of human cloning, Campbell used the analogy of traffic lights. In this case, both Catholics and the Southern Baptists were described to issue red lights on the aspects of therapeutic and human cloning. On the other hand, Protestants like the Lutheran and Episcopal faiths were assigned yellow and green light. Some of the traditions that have always contradicted the issue of cloning have been shown the ambiguity in their claim. As a result, they have ended up accepting therapeutic cloning, although they strongly oppose the status of human cloning for reproduction reasons (Bradley). Other faiths have strongly remained rigid on this issue. For instance, Buddhists have no position on the aspects of cloning and thus do not claim anything concerning the matter. This means whether it takes place or not, they are not concerned. Their failure to take sides may make them lean more on accepting cloning, which may be as a result of enlightenment on the modern education. Eightfold Path, on the other hand, prohibits any kind of harm to sentient beings that is seen in the destruction of cells used in cloning. Thus, they are opposed to that idea. According to Damien Keown, a renowned expert on Buddhists response to cloning says that Buddhists do not oppose cloning. In addition, Buddhists believe in non-sexual reproduction and thus destruction of embryo cells in the process of cloning cannot be regarded as murder. Instead, Buddhists believe that life begins from supernatural occurrences like the spontaneous generation. The main issue comes with the Christian where they claim that once a new human being or an animal is brought into being is an act of ‘playing God.’ Christians view it as an act of overcoming the power of a supernatural creator. This is very different with the Buddhist because to them life is not a gift from God. It is the reason the issue of cloning, whether for therapeutic or reproduction purposes is not a problem to them. Nevertheless, this does not imply that Buddhists accepts cloning, since they respect sentient beings, which includes cells that are born out of research. It is contrary to Buddhism to destroy human or animal cells in cloning. For the Hindus according to Campbell, have issued a red light, which implies that they have not fully welcomed the idea of cloning. However, they do not have the same view as Christians that it is an act of plating God. Muslims, on the other hand, claim that it is the will of Allah to use cloning for procreation, which is an expression of faith in the will of God who is the giver of life (Bradley). The challenge The issue of cloning has always challenged deeply the beliefs held by religions about the creation and the relation between human beings and God. Because God is seen as the sole creator and creation as a complete act, then there is no one else who has the right to create or tamper with what God has already created. On the other hand, some people regard God as the power of creation and creation itself is a transformative process, which man has a role to participate (Bradley). Some of the Jewish scholars support this view of creation being a transformative process, and thus support reproductive cloning. The main concern, however, is the outcome of the human cloning, where if the results are adverse, then the Jewish law would advocate an end to human cloning. It is very hard to reach a consensus between the beliefs among the various religions about the issue of cloning, given the various ethical arguments that revolve around the whole aspects of conception of life, the embryo, and the nature of creation. It has always been a difficult relationship between religion and science. Apart from cloning, there has always been controversy between matters of science and religion. For instance, scientists will advocate abortion, while religion will heavily condemn it. It is clear that science have always challenged all the religious beliefs especially in the Western tradition. For instance, the Darwinian and Copernican revolutions made religions question their view of God and to re-examine the issue of the universe and humanity. Today, there is yet another revolution, which might change the society through the use of biological research, which is challenging our beliefs about the nature and value of human life. In my own point of view, cloning is one way of trying to overpower God and to tamper with his own creation. According to Christians, everything God made was perfect and pleased him, which means it was enough and he was contented with it. In relation to procreation, man was only given power to procreate through reproduction. On the other hand, the cloned human beings could bring more disaster to the life of people. For instance, these beings since they are exactly similar could be used in cases of robbery and terrorism. More serious problem would arise as a result of cloning. In addition, it is not clear whether the genetic makeup would change and result to a different creature, which would be a threat to human life. On the view of religion, God would be unhappy with the human race for trying to overpower him and probably strike him with a plague or a disaster. A story is told in the Bible where people wanted to reach God by constructing the tower of Babel. When God realized they would eventually build a very big tower, he confused their language because he did not want anyone to rise above him. This is the nature of God and he does not allow anyone to share in his glory. The Bible states that he is a jealous God, and thus trying to overpower him would bring a serious disaster to mankind (Bradley). In conclusion, as long as science exists and people continue to do more discoveries, controversy will always be there, either between religion and science or between ethics and science. There is probably more to be discovered since technology is improving thus advancing the area of research. There is a clear indication in the Bible that man will destroy himself because of his knowledge. Work cited Hanson, Bradley. Introduction to Christian Theology. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1997. Print. Read More