Human Cloning

[Merika]

I guess this would be a political in nature topic, perhaps even religious.

Anyway, what do you think of human cloning? Do you think it's a solution to organ transplants, aging, etc. What are the ethical implications? Would you agree to be cloned?

[Duke]

I don't think cloning of anything other than food resources is a good idea personally.

[Weiser]

i'm not opposed, but only if the person is dead. don't need 2 of the same people running around.

[Vautrin]

The problem is, that life experience may not be cloned - and thus that the clone may be totally different from the original one. Unless of course, we exactly control what the clone experiences and achieves. That is a scary idea.

As for organ transplants, that is a very tricky discussion. Over here, the complaint is that too few people die in traffic accidents (!). Traffic accidents are the main supplier for organs.

I don't think cloning would solve the problem - on what basis could you deny the clone life? I think stem cell research, and a few other branches are more promising in that regard, with the possibility to avoid the ethical stalemates cloning seems to lead to.

[Merika]

Stem cell only becomes an ethical question if the public feels it is being 'harvested'. That goes back to the whole abortion issue.

Cloning though, isn't really hurting anyone. I would think if they could clone organs, it would save a lot of lives.

You couldn't clone a whole person because that requires a spirit and a soul. Neither of which you could create.

I think it's an interesting issue.

[Vautrin]

Did Dolly (the cloned sheep) have a spirit / soul? I would say yes.

And I can't see a technology being developed, that specifically generates livers or kidneys. So what would we do with the "waste human" we have created?

Stem cells are precisely interesting because of the issue of creating specific organs. If you will not allow for research on that, the only option is to clone complete humans for organs. But we cannot deny those clones the right to live either, so solving the donor organ issue would become impossible that way, and thus should not be an argument for research on cloning.

[Merika]

Well..if you cloned a liver or something....couldn't you just freeze it until you needed it?

Dolly the sheep wouldn't be the same. Animals don't have a soul and a spirit. Well....I guess that would be debatable for some people. My reasoning is, animals don't live forever, nor can they make ethical moral judgements. They can only be taught what they can and can not do.

[Vautrin]

Originally Posted by Merika

My reasoning is, animals don't live forever, nor can they make ethical moral judgements.

Neither do humans live forever. And the question is, what is an ethical moral judgement in the first place.

I can easily hold the position that the death penalty is unethical and immoral. And that does not necessarily exclude the possibility that a lot of those who support the death penalty, do not make ethical moral judgements, but let their gut decide their position on a whole plethora of issues.

In extremis, people could even hold: "That is not moral judging at all - hence that those humans would be lesser human beings and should even be forced to abstain their kidneys, and livers and what not, even on this day. Who cares that they die, as they are animalistic anyway?"

More food for thought.

They can only be taught what they can and can not do.

Much like humans, most of the time.

[Star]

animals live by instict. I don't think we can compare animals to humans. it really isn't the same thing IMO.

I don't find anything wrong with cloning organs to save a life. but cloning a whole person, IMO is wrong.

[Merika]

Originally Posted by Vautrin

Neither do humans live forever.

I guess that would be considered a religious debate....but I totally plan on my soul and spirit living forever!