The Australian House of Representatives has just voted to allow the passage of a clone and kill bill. The Patterson Bill was passed by a vote of 82 to 62. This is very worrying news indeed. This will certainly take us further down the slippery slope into even more dehumanisation and depersonalisation, with Big Biotech trumping ethical and humanitarian concerns.
The commodification of life and the assault on personhood has just gotten much more pronounced. To deliberately bring a human life into existence for the sole purpose of killing it in order to conduct experiments on it sounds like something we fought a World War over.
The ironic thing is that some MPs four years ago voted against human cloning, but they have now gone the other way. While nothing has really changed on the cloning front, and no human cures have yet to come from embryonic stem cell research, the number of human therapies from adult stem cells continues to climb.
Yet a very seductive and efficient pro-cloning campaign was conducted to sway gullible MPs to vote for the snake oil of embryo research. Promises of miracle cures were too tempting for some. But the real science of curing and helping people had been, and continues to be, coming from adult stem cell research.
The good news in all this bad news is all the major political party leaders did the right thing. John Howard and Peter Costello of the Liberals, Mark Vaile of the Nationals, and Kevin Rudd of Labor, all voted against the bill. These leaders deserve great praise for doing the right thing instead of caving in to political expediency. It is a pity that so many other Members were hoodwinked by the hype of the cloning lobby.
With each new decision taken to allow Big Pharma and unethical science to move us in the direction of a brave new world, another bit of humanity is whittled away. Each new step by the cloning lobby will be another step away from the preciousness of life and our common humanity.
It seems we have gone down this path before, but the lessons of history are soon forgotten. Or we choose to forget those lessons. But as Santayana reminded us, we will be doomed to repeat the past if we will not learn from it.
What has happened tonight in Australia is not the end of the world. But it is another step along a road which we should not be taking. It is another step on a path that will usher in marvels of technology, but minus the human soul and spirit. Many prophets have warned us of what such a world will look like. It is scandalous that we have not paid greater attention to their warnings.
4 Replies to “We Will Now Clone and Kill in Australia”
Bill, I agree with all that you have said, and am greatly saddened by what has taken place in our national parliament; and my mind searches for explanations, but I don’t think I could add much to what you have said.
Alec Witham
As you said, this decision “takes us further down the slippery slope”. Once started down this slope it is very hard to stop. At best most of the concessions won by Christians on these types of issues have only slowed the decline. It is a logical progression once the status of human life shifts from one that is made in the image of God to one that is made in the image of an ape (evolution). This is where the church has ‘dropped the ball’. Too much compromise with evolution has undermined the authority of God’s word in the eyes of the church and the world.
Ewan McDonald, Victoria
Thanks, Bill, for taking leadership in exposing the “very seductive and efficient pro-cloning campaign [that] was conducted to sway gullible MPs to vote for the snake oil of embryo research ”
In addition to writing to our MPs and Senators to express our disapproval, I consider that it is important to encourage the MPs and Senators who voted against this dangerous legislation.
I wrote the following to my Qld. MPs and Senators: “There are some parliamentary votes that represent a turning point in a nation’s ethical history. Wednesday, 6th December 2006, was one of those decisive days and your vote was against such a slippery slope in medical ethics. Even though you and your supporters lost the final vote, I want to congratulate you for standing up in support of human life in opposing the cloning Bill. Thank you for supporting the sanctity of human life from conception. You are a hero in opposing this move into ethical relativism.”
I also thank you, Bill, for your exemplary cultural apologetics in addressing issues from a distinctive Christian world and life view.
Spencer Gear, Bundaberg Qld.
Thanks Bill for your inspiring article on this particular topic. It is a worry that Parliament wants to tread down this path. The very thought of reproducing a human life in order to sacrifice it to help possibly cure another person is plain and simply wrong. To take the life of another is murder, and I’m proud of the fact some Australian politicians are against it. Human life is precious and sacred and shouldn’t be gambled with.
Fivos Panayiotou
Bill, I agree with all that you have said, and am greatly saddened by what has taken place in our national parliament; and my mind searches for explanations, but I don’t think I could add much to what you have said.
Alec Witham
As you said, this decision “takes us further down the slippery slope”. Once started down this slope it is very hard to stop. At best most of the concessions won by Christians on these types of issues have only slowed the decline. It is a logical progression once the status of human life shifts from one that is made in the image of God to one that is made in the image of an ape (evolution). This is where the church has ‘dropped the ball’. Too much compromise with evolution has undermined the authority of God’s word in the eyes of the church and the world.
Ewan McDonald, Victoria
Thanks, Bill, for taking leadership in exposing the “very seductive and efficient pro-cloning campaign [that] was conducted to sway gullible MPs to vote for the snake oil of embryo research ”
In addition to writing to our MPs and Senators to express our disapproval, I consider that it is important to encourage the MPs and Senators who voted against this dangerous legislation.
I wrote the following to my Qld. MPs and Senators: “There are some parliamentary votes that represent a turning point in a nation’s ethical history. Wednesday, 6th December 2006, was one of those decisive days and your vote was against such a slippery slope in medical ethics. Even though you and your supporters lost the final vote, I want to congratulate you for standing up in support of human life in opposing the cloning Bill. Thank you for supporting the sanctity of human life from conception. You are a hero in opposing this move into ethical relativism.”
I also thank you, Bill, for your exemplary cultural apologetics in addressing issues from a distinctive Christian world and life view.
Spencer Gear, Bundaberg Qld.
Thanks Bill for your inspiring article on this particular topic. It is a worry that Parliament wants to tread down this path. The very thought of reproducing a human life in order to sacrifice it to help possibly cure another person is plain and simply wrong. To take the life of another is murder, and I’m proud of the fact some Australian politicians are against it. Human life is precious and sacred and shouldn’t be gambled with.
Fivos Panayiotou