Friday, March 7, 2014

Christians Should Oppose Stem Cell Research on Embryos

According to The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Christians should not support Embryonic Stem Cell Research.

By: Joe Carter, December 12, 2013

Aren’t embryonic stem cells more effective than adult stem cells at treating diseases? No. In fact, just the opposite is true: there are more than 70 conditions currently being treated with adult stem cells, and zero with embryonic stem cells. 

Despite the media hype of the early 2000s, embryonic stem cell research has proven to be useless at treating medical conditions. When tested on animals, embryonic stem cells turned into tumors. As biological engineer James Sherley once explained, “Figuring out how to use human embryonic stem cells directly by transplantation into patients is tantamount to solving the cancer problem.” Government and private funding sources have consistently shown a preference for adult stem cell research. For every dollar spent on embryonic stem cell research, four dollars is spent on research using adult stem cells. However, because of its unethical nature, more needs to be done to oppose any federal funding and discourage private funding of embryo-destructive research. 

Can Christians support embryonic stem cell research? Several passages in the Bible strongly suggest that human life begins at conception  (Job 31:13-15; Ps. 51:5; 139:13-16; Matt. 1:20). The Bible is also clear about the taking of innocent life (Exod. 20:13; Deut. 5:17). For these reasons, Christians should not support medical research that requires killing innocent human beings at the earliest stage of their development. 

See more at: http://erlc.com/article/what-christians-should-know-about-embryonic-stem-cell-research#sthash.INRD8Z3R.dpuf

No comments:

Post a Comment