LOL. Everytime I look at that photo, I realize what a role image really plays in the world. If she were some young, hot, italian, I might think "I don't agree with them, but they seem to be interesting". I look at this lady, with yellow teeth, and a receding hairline, and just get the shivers. Honestly, do I really need to go to Oxford to get a job? BTW, why did they crop the photo? You can't see her bubble-wrapper/interstellar jump suit.
Read today's Chronicle...the woman is a U of H grad! So now, when we mix cults, cloning, extraterrestrials, questionable bioethics, the French and Cougar-freaking-High, you get something that can only be described with one word: SLUG-NUTTY!!!!!!! The baby is probably missing a middle finger on one hand so it will permanently do that ridiculous "Eat em up Coogs" hand signal!
I would love to hear reactions from the scientists on the board. Univision had lengthy coverage on the issue last night and they say that male sperm isn't used for fertilization. Supposedly an egg and DNA are put in a chemical that "tricks" the egg into thinking that it has been fertilized (by male sperm?). They also claim that the result would not be a complete human being -- underdeveloped brain and no soul. Funny that they would say that considering that the animal clones appear normal. It is scary stuff. If you believe God like I do, you'd really be concerned about what the future will be like once this technology is mastered.
More from about the cult from the UK's News of the World: http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/news2.html Especially disturbing is this quote by Vorhilon, the so-called Raelian master: "Children should be taught to have sex purely for pleasure without any emotional commitment to the sexual partner." This guy makes David Karesh look like the pope.
I take great comfort in seeing that this thread has deteriorated into insults heaped upon the crazy woman that actually has contemplated cloning. This tells me that we have reached a concensus that cloning humans, without assurance of the good health of said clones, is EVIL.
I bet this is mostly a publicity stunt. In interviews I’ve seen in the last two days, both the woman and Rael have said they support the cloning, but that they aren’t the medical people in charge. This gets them the photo op (and umpteen articles written about their free-love cult) and gives them an out if it turns out that things aren’t exactly as they said they were. If so they’ll just say they were relaying what they were told, and that the fault lies with the doctors who misled them. One article I read (can’t remember which one else I’d post it) suggested that their membership was tailing off a few years ago just before they started Clonaid, and that this focus has brought new members, and money, to the group. So my guess is that this is just an elaborate marketing scam, but whether or not they have actually attempted to clone somebody I’m not sure.
This is the question that I present: What is the difference between a brain and a soul? For instance, if someone suffers irreperable brain damage and they go to heaven, does their 'soul' regain what the body lost? When a 1yr old child dies and goes to heaven, do they somehow magically gain some sort of maturity? What are the limits of soul and mind? I don't think anybody has any good answers to these questions. Given that, what if they could configure it such that only a "cloned" liver were grown for tissue transplantation? How 'bout a lower torso for people who loose their legs? If any of this is not a problem, where does it begin to be a problem, at 50%? When a brain is cloned? Finally, if these "clones" don't have a soul, given traditional Christian thought, why isn't there a problem growing them as 'biological slaves'? After all, traditional Christian thought places the soul as the seat of the value of the individual. Not that I advocate any of these positions, I just think that many of the Luddite Christians base their positions on how they "feel" about a given situation, which is tantamount to letting their reptilian forebrains make decisions about complex matters that are beyond the scope of these uncomplex structures to judge on.
Ottoman, The brain obviously is a tangible organ in the body that controls the nervous system. The soul is the intangible spirit of an individual that does not die even when the physical body does. To comment on your last paragraph, I could ask: What is the difference between feeling and believing? They are essentially the same. Chrisitians are no different than everyone else walking the earth in that we hold positions on everything complex or not based personal beliefs.
Having an underdeveloped brain is questionable. In the case of the sheep, it was a normal sheep with a shortened lifespan. Primate cloning is much more difficult, but barring complications, it should have a normal brain. In your reply, you said that the brain is a tangible organ, but it is also the most complex and irreplaceable. Behavior is linked to the brain and no other organ. It has been shown that if you cut the connection between both hemispheres of the brain, 2 distinct personalities will develop that are totally independent of the other. Other cases like a man's head being impaled by a pipe showed that he was alive but became more aggressive. This doesn't disprove the possibility of the soul, but it does show that the brain can define who you are. I wonder if he realizes that A Brave New World was a distopia. Or more frighteningly, he does... Like nude beaches, free love aint what it's cracked up to be.
I can see why she wants to be cloned. Yikes!!! Now, if they can accelerate the growth of the clone and transfer her memory into the clone's brain...she can have the possibility of normal teeth if the clone sees a dentist regularly. Oh...read the interview with Rael...or as I like to say...Raul. Cookoo for cocco puffs. It sounds like their whole religion is based on the movie "Stargate". Or, the movie is based on their religion. Throw some "The 6th Day" in there for the cloning part.
Please...Weird Al Yankovic was doing research on this as far back as the mid 80's... "I Think I'm A Clone Now" Isn't it strange Feels like I'm lookin' in the mirror What would people say If only they knew that I was Part of some geneticist's plan (plan-plan-plan) Born to be a carbon copy man (man-man-man) There in a petri dish late one night They took a donor's body cell and fertilized a human egg and so I say I think I'm a clone now There's always two of me just a-hangin' around I think I'm a clone now 'Cause every chromosome is a hand-me-down Look at the way We go out walking close together I guess you could say I'm really beside myself I still remember how it began (gan-gan-gan) They produced a carbon copy man (man-man-man) Born in a science lab late one night Without a mother or a father, just a test tube and a womb with a view I think I'm a clone now (a clone now) There's always two of me just a-hangin' around I think I'm a clone now (a clone now) 'Cause every chromosome is a hand-me-down I think I'm a clone now (a clone now) And I can stay at home while I'm out of town I think I'm a clone now (a clone now) 'Cause every pair of genes is a hand-me-down Signing autographs for my fans Come and meet the carbon copy man Livin' in stereo, it's all right Well I can be my own best friend and I can send myself for pizza so I say I think I'm a clone now Another one of me's always hangin' around I think I'm a clone now 'Cause every chromosome is a hand-me-down I think I'm a clone now (a clone now) I've been on Oprah Winfrey - I'm world renowned I think I'm a clone now (a clone now) And every pair of genes is a hand-me-down I think I'm a clone now (a clone now) That's my genetic twin always hangin' around I think I'm a clone now (a clone now) 'Cause every chromosome is a hand-me-down I think I'm a clone now (a clone now)
The claim is probably bogus, a publicity stunt. I doubt any good scientists would be signing up to work with these nutjobs. That being said, it is not completely impossible. If I understand it correctly, biologists still aren't all agreeing on why Dolly the sheep aged and died so quickly. If somebody clones a human anytime soon, it probably won't live very long. And what is a clone really if it is not as healthy as its original? If it has different health, it is arguably not a copy at all but a demonstrably different being. Just a thought.
note for people at work: clonaid.com - clonaid website clonaid.org - p*rn website Well, I think I know how these guys are being funded.
ACTUALLY....Saddam Hussein clones himself. He has so many impersonators!!! I HATE CLONING. Please ban it!!! Not good....immoral....we will all be Left Behind!
