Saturday, May 14, 2005

bending over backwards to accommodate anti-science religion

may 13th

now for some theology and bioethics. i have been accused by christian fundamentalists of spouting strange theology, and i return the compliment. they do the same. here are some examples.

the whole premise here is that the human embryo/fetus is somehow blessed by god at the moment of conception. why only at the moment of conception? every egg and sperm cell also has the potential to become human, so they should also be considered worthy of the same respect, and so they must have souls as well. and so on, ad infinitum. each human cell is capable of creating a clone of the entire human, therefore it has a soul; so no human cell should ever be destroyed. does that include even cancer cells? or even the cells that you destroy, you bad person, when you brush your teeth? or when you smoke a cigarette? or just by being alive?

this also brings out a patent fallacy in christian theology: the raising of humans above all other creation. they claim only humans have souls. why are humans so superior? does god not think its other creations are worthy of having souls? i once posted an article on this blog on the secret lives of cows: they too exhibit various human-like emotions, including jealousy, anger, cliquishness, etc. how do you know they don't have souls?

and suppose we were to suddenly find, through the search for extra terrestrial intelligence, an intelligent alien species? do they have a soul? if not, why not? if they do have a soul, do they have a different god, the god of the aliens that gave them a soul? if the aliens are more intelligent than humans, does it mean the god of the aliens (let's say they are spider-like) is superior to the god of the humans? does it mean that the god of the christian fundamentalists (i referred to him as GOF, god of the fundamentalists, in an article i wrote years ago) is only the god of human christians, a tribal, limited god? after all GOF is supposed to have created humans in his image, and the spider-like aliens are not in GOF's image: GOF is an old man with a flowing beard. imagine the confusion if a spider-alien wanted to become a christian! how could he, since he has no soul, or his soul is tied to a different GOA, god of aliens?

what if, through a normal process of evolution, new super-human species are created? this comes up against the same soul issues.

so this whole business of the soul is shady. so is the exclusivism applied first to christians and then to humans: as if only they have some direct hotline to GOF. all of the others are second-class. ironically, this actually implies, logically, that the GOF is a second-class tribal god, not the One, the Creator of the Universe.

i personally think all beings have souls, and they are not inferior to humans. the Creator, the One, did create them all and its purpose was not to create slaves for humans. other beings are just different. so if one is willing to run experiments on rhesus monkeys and mice, and harvest their tissue, blood, whatever, then there should be no legitimate reason to oppose the same with human tumors or non-viable human fetuses either.

this whole fuss over human stem cells is pseudo-religious tripe. on the other hand, i do agree that a certain amount of respect needs to be paid. i wouldn't suggest the chinese method of wholesale abortion and consumption of aborted fetuses. that is simply nauseating.

i am also not a science fundamentalist, i hasten to add. there are dogmatists there too. i think a practical via media is possible where one respects religion (i am a deeply religious person) and at the same time recognizes the value of science. neither should put on airs because both are imperfect models for the universe. neither is infallible.

for instance, science could not satisfactority explain the tsunami, why it happened when it happened and when it will happen again. religion could not satisfactority explain the tsunami and why it was god's will to make it happen.

the church, in its finest traditions, is blocking stem-cell science as it always has blocked any new advance. this is how europe did not progress for a thousand years, until the s0-called enlightenment destroyed the deadening influence of the church. they do it just like the JNU blocks progress (yet again demonstrating that marxism is a semitic religion). the image of galileo recanting his theories under pressure is the symbol for these dogmatists. or that of giordano bruno being burned at the stake. or of leon trotsky being 'erased' from history books.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

yeah you are right about it all rajeev.
frankly speaking, it sucks to see the genuine advance in medicine blocked. stem cells hold an immense potential for therapeutic cures and much less than the idea of cloning. it is simply not possible with the current medical knowledge. hence the hodge podge about the "soul" and shit like that.

frankly, it is surprising that in bush's land, stem cell therapy is getting public funds. i came across an article in rediff where an indian doctor has got an advance ofr stem cell therapy for beta cells- the ones responsible for making insulin. diabetes would then be more easier to manage. i really wish that these same fundamentalists be afflcited with the diseases and then realise that as a doctor it is so frustrating to relieve the patient of pain.

for that matter, euthanasia and all that attendant crap. the same fundamentalists wouldnt realise as to how difficult it is to revieve a dead vegetable- the hoopla behind schiavo(may her soul rest in peace!) brought the issue to the core. the other day, we were discussing amongst us doctors, that each one of the general population should spend roughly a week in an intensive care unit. frankly then one would realise that difference between life and death is very precarious. something that jesus wouldnt deliver. medical science is one thing. i havent really had any trust in miracles so far.

Anonymous said...

Hi Rajeev,

This is unrelated to the current discussion, but have you read the following article?

Chinese army enters into Indian territory
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1111584.cms

Anonymous said...

Rajeev, I know its a bit off-kilter, but I was wondering if you would be kind enought to write an article on the situation Russia find itself in vis-a-vis Islamic terrorism and as evident from a news posting in Rediff.com titled: "Chinese migrants clash with Russian police" (http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/may/16china.htm) as IMHO India finds itself in same situation with regards to both Islamic terrorism and, in its case, illegal migrants from B'Desh. Also the way the Western nations want to keep both India and Russia down and do everything within their means to stop India & Russia from achieving global power status.

Anonymous said...

Dear Rajeev,

I came here from your rediff article on India and UN.
It was a wonderful article and I share your views that India should walk out of it.

I am also seeing your other articles, and they are LOVELY....

And one more thing, I wish to publish your article on my Blog too, I need your permission, I wont tamper with it and I will definitely mention the source and acknowledgements.

And please do visit my Blog and website (www.sameer.net.ms)

Sameer

Anonymous said...

Nothing to do with this article. But this report in NewYork Times clearly suggests a new bone of contention between China & USA.

Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/reports/js2448_report.pdf

Chinese have pegged their currency exchange rate at 8.28 to the U.S dollar.Apparantely the US is pressurising the chineese to reconsider this rate as its local industry is being hit.

It will be interesting game to watch in coming days & not sure how this will affect the Indian exchange rate? Will India too have to re-adjust the exchange rates in relation of any adjustments made in Beijing?

Beijing usual shows its middle finger to US whenever it seems that Uncle Sam is putting up pressure.(Whether its human rights records or anything)

Lets see what it does this time !

Anonymous said...

So much so for spearheading the NAM cause. A column in IE which informs that the countries pressing us for signing the NPT are the ones whose causes are espoused by the Minister of Ext. Affairs who is still stuck in the times of Indira Gandhi.
http://iecolumnists.expressindia.com/full_column.php?content_id=69625

NoHairBrain said...

I have been a avid reader of all ur articles on rediff and lemme congratulate you on the thoughtful and insightful articles that you come up with and most often, I should say, Timely.

I have something to say on this thing too. I think the Anthropocentric nature of the dominant religion, christianity, ( God, in the likeness of Man ) precludes, the recognition of souls in animals, which is being disputed in everyday life and thus its something to be conveniently swept under the carpet by the church.
I think that everthing that the humans do, is a recipe for evolution, although the results of it might not be immediately apparent. To put it in very simple terms - "What doesnt kill ya, will only make you stronger."
thus we should stop the church interfering in science and vice versa. But thats the system of checks and balances too . isnt it ?

Anonymous said...

Nice one San. But have you observed how most of the articles on this exchange rate issue leave you with more questions unanswered? Its like no one's ready to call the spade.
I would say the pressure is on both ends. And obviously as this article suggests its not even in America's interest that China goes for "crash landing"; as it were.
Moving away from this article, i am carrying a feeling that we might be looking at a possible Chinese implosion;not of the order of erstwhile Soviet Union; but still.
What happens in China is hard to tell, thanks to the state controlled media.But one gets this feeling that all's not well out there, too.

Anonymous said...

well said. point taken.