The Stem-Cell Debate – Abortion Controversy Re-Visited?

Let me start by making it known that I am a firm believer in an almighty, all-knowing God.  Along with that, I find it tragic that so few of us choose to consistently apply the faculty of reason that He gave us.  It is that insight, that self-awareness, that likens us to our Creator.  I am also an empirical thinker, and somewhat of a skeptic – in many situations I act like the proverbial Missourian: “Show Me!”

So in situations where there is not objective evidence to support a point of view, I fall back to reason and logic.  I find it irrational to consider that we, humankind, were given free will, self-awareness and reason, only to rationalize, but never to truly comprehend.  Yes, we are fallible and incomplete – does that suggest that we should cease trying to improve ourselves because we will occasionally fail?  What appears incomprehensible to us today may well be rote kindergarten-fare to our progeny.

I write this, because I am morally compelled to refute the medieval-mindset of fundamentalism.  Faith does not have to be blind to be true.  I do not need to validate my beliefs by forcibly converting those of opposing viewpoints to “My Way”.  I can understand and respect your belief, without sharing it.  Do not mistake my cognitive dualism for indecisiveness, weakness, or easy prey for conversion – as it is none of these.

God has many names, and shows many faces to the peoples of this world.  He cares not how we come to Him, just that we come to Him.  He desires that we choose to come to Him, to embrace His ways, to honor Him in our hearts and minds, to elicit His guidance in our daily lives, as we grow.  God’s infinite reason and compassion do not perceive the irreconcilable differences in our world’s varying religious doctrines, as many of us do. 

It is our limited human understanding that forces many of us to polarize our beliefs into opposing camps: if my faith presents strong ideas contrary to what beliefs you hold, will your faith be shattered by them?  If so, then perhaps your faith is not as strong and true as you may have hoped and suspected – as the truest test of faith is its strengthened resolve when challenged by adversity.

I digress because I wanted to make it clear that issues such as these should be decided based on reason and logic, not visceral “knee-jerks” and mindless dogma.

Those who take the position against stem-cell research claim that a human is being immorally harvested for body parts.  Yet at what point do sperm and egg become human?  At the moment of fertilization, some would assert.  So a zygote is now a precious living being?  What about a paramecium?  A chicken egg?  How does this position account for miscarried pregnancies (spontaneous abortions)?  Does God mindlessly slaughter his own creations after breathing life into them? 

Why would God imbue a soul in a vessel which has not yet developed the means to house consciousness – that is, how could a creature without a developed nervous system contain a soul?  Without the nervous system, where is that soul housed?  In the single-celled zygote, where two halves have been fused to form a new whole?  When mitosis occurs, then, if the soul is already resident, why does it not replicate millions of times, along with the rest of the cell contents?  Or is that soul incomplete, perhaps just a fragment, built piece by piece along with the vessel of flesh where it will reside? 

Or perhaps God chooses to be inconsistent?  If the ovum is to be viable and grow to term, then he places a soul in at conception, but if the ovum is blighted, and once fertilized, does not divide and grow properly, then no soul will be received?  This would suggest that God intervenes in many things he has created to operate autonomously – he has set many processes in motion in this world, given humankind freedom to choose and make their own decisions, and given us the power to effect our world, for better or worse. 

If God does constantly intervene, then it implies that he is a puppeteer in human affairs, and reduces the concept of freewill to nothing more than a cruel joke – which means that humans can not love God: because love has to be freely given, and without freedom to choose, love does not exist.

Because we have been given the ability to affect our environment, because our actions can have real positive and negative consequences, God generally chooses not to intervene in those actions over which he has given us the potential to exert control – otherwise, we would not learn and grow, just as human parents must teach their children, and then set them free to make their own decisions, so that they may properly grow into adulthood.  

Often when we turn to God during tragedies and ask, “Why did you let this happen?” we refuse to hear the reply: “Because you, whether alone or in concert with your fellow beings, already had the power to prevent it from happening.”  This is an obligation we often still refuse to recognize or acknowledge – which is why I wouldn’t be surprised if God were to view us as spoiled infants, or perhaps rebellious adolescents, at best.

The best prayer may not always be for forgiveness for transgressions committed against the Almighty, as it might be to grow in wisdom, patience, and understanding of our fellow beings.  No one can see through closed eyes.

Robert E. Székely

(2 October 2001)