Clones have Souls
Stephen Fraser / Scotland on Sunday 29apr01
Human clones are inevitable and will have souls like anyone else "made
in the image of God", according to the Church of Scotland’s first
major report on the issue.
Clones should be accorded full equality as human beings, rather than being treated as "monsters, abominations or slaves", says the report, which is almost certain to be accepted at next month’s General Assembly.
The paper also suggests the Church of Scotland should be the first mainstream Christian denomination to support the cloning of embryos for therapeutic purposes, reversing its previously staunch opposition to the idea.
The report, by the Kirk’s influential Board of Social Responsibility, is the first by a major Christian church to take a position on human clones.
While its authors insist they are merely facing up to 21st-century realities, the report will spark concerns that the Kirk is starting to erode almost universal religious opposition to human cloning.
Both the Vatican and the Church of England have so far remained silent on the issue, concentrating instead on resisting any moves towards allowing cloning.
However the Kirk’s Board of Social Responsibility has been examining the growth of cloning technology over the last year. It believes the prospect of a successful attempt at human cloning is approaching and it should formulate its policy for the arrival of a new method of creating life.
The General Assembly will be asked to recognise "if and when such a being is created", that clones should be seen as "fully human, made in the image of God, answerable to God according to their abilities". It says they should be regarded as "neighbours who God commands us to love."
The report was part-written by the Rev Dr Richard Corbett, a member of the Committee’s Human Genetics sub-group. He said: "We are having to address developments that once we dismissed as pure science fiction. While there are serious problems with cloning, sufficient numbers of people are interested with enough resources and scientific expertise to suggest it will happen at some point."
Corbett added: "In the past people have suggested these clones could be used for spare parts surgery, or regarded as soldiers or slaves, or that they could be deemed soulless in some way: what we are saying here is that they will not be monsters, abominations or robots and they must not be slaves. Clones are going to have souls and be fully human. After all, it’s not their fault they have been made as they will be, rather than conceived in the conventional fashion."
An Italian professor and fertility expert, Severino Antinori, announced last month his intention to clone a human being within the next two years.
An American sect, the Raelians, is funding scientists’ attempts to clone a 10-month old baby boy. The simplest technique, called nucleus transfer, was perfected by the Scottish team which produced Dolly the Sheep but involves considerable risk. A high number of embryos were destroyed before Dolly was created.
Some Christian faiths believe cloning flouts God’s authority by bypassing normal human reproduction.
The Roman Catholic Church is outspokenly opposed to the concept of cloning, in part because it by-passes their teaching on the divine creation of the soul at the moment of conception of an embryo.
Dr Joseph Houston, a theologian from Glasgow University, said the Vatican would find the cloning debate a far more difficult question. "The status of clones will cause some problems for Roman Catholic theologians because they will have to work out at what stage in the process of cloning the soul is supposed to merge with the embryo," he said.
Clones should be accorded full equality as human beings, rather than being treated as "monsters, abominations or slaves", says the report, which is almost certain to be accepted at next month’s General Assembly.
The paper also suggests the Church of Scotland should be the first mainstream Christian denomination to support the cloning of embryos for therapeutic purposes, reversing its previously staunch opposition to the idea.
The report, by the Kirk’s influential Board of Social Responsibility, is the first by a major Christian church to take a position on human clones.
While its authors insist they are merely facing up to 21st-century realities, the report will spark concerns that the Kirk is starting to erode almost universal religious opposition to human cloning.
Both the Vatican and the Church of England have so far remained silent on the issue, concentrating instead on resisting any moves towards allowing cloning.
However the Kirk’s Board of Social Responsibility has been examining the growth of cloning technology over the last year. It believes the prospect of a successful attempt at human cloning is approaching and it should formulate its policy for the arrival of a new method of creating life.
The General Assembly will be asked to recognise "if and when such a being is created", that clones should be seen as "fully human, made in the image of God, answerable to God according to their abilities". It says they should be regarded as "neighbours who God commands us to love."
The report was part-written by the Rev Dr Richard Corbett, a member of the Committee’s Human Genetics sub-group. He said: "We are having to address developments that once we dismissed as pure science fiction. While there are serious problems with cloning, sufficient numbers of people are interested with enough resources and scientific expertise to suggest it will happen at some point."
Corbett added: "In the past people have suggested these clones could be used for spare parts surgery, or regarded as soldiers or slaves, or that they could be deemed soulless in some way: what we are saying here is that they will not be monsters, abominations or robots and they must not be slaves. Clones are going to have souls and be fully human. After all, it’s not their fault they have been made as they will be, rather than conceived in the conventional fashion."
An Italian professor and fertility expert, Severino Antinori, announced last month his intention to clone a human being within the next two years.
An American sect, the Raelians, is funding scientists’ attempts to clone a 10-month old baby boy. The simplest technique, called nucleus transfer, was perfected by the Scottish team which produced Dolly the Sheep but involves considerable risk. A high number of embryos were destroyed before Dolly was created.
Some Christian faiths believe cloning flouts God’s authority by bypassing normal human reproduction.
The Roman Catholic Church is outspokenly opposed to the concept of cloning, in part because it by-passes their teaching on the divine creation of the soul at the moment of conception of an embryo.
Dr Joseph Houston, a theologian from Glasgow University, said the Vatican would find the cloning debate a far more difficult question. "The status of clones will cause some problems for Roman Catholic theologians because they will have to work out at what stage in the process of cloning the soul is supposed to merge with the embryo," he said.
|
If you have come to this page from an outside location click here to get back to mindfully.org |
