"Send in the Clones"
Well, it may not have been the break through it was thought to
be. Dolly is dying. Dolly is the world famous sheep cloned in Scotland. She is
now three years old, but her cells are more like the cells of her "mother" and
not like the cells of a three year old. What this means is that Dolly is aging
fast.
A French study suggested that cloned cows are ten times more likely to be
unhealthy than those that came into the world the natural way. It is sort of
like copying an audio tape. The copy will have imperfections on it. I would
imagine that if you cloned a clone, you would really run into problems
The scariest thing about all this is not that man is not capable of achieving
some successes in this area, but rather what will he do with them. As his
scientific knowledge advances his knowledge of the Creator diminishes. Of
course, this is a generalization because many scientists are men and women of
faith, but as a whole those involved in the scientific fields are woefully
ignorant of the Creator's will. What will happen if potentially harmful
knowledge falls under the control of a person without a moral basis upon which
to make his decision as to what to do with it?
For example, what would have happened if the knowledge necessary to produce
nuclear weapons had developed in Germany under Hitler's control? I expect the
world would be a much different place today.
Will we be able to clone humans one day? First, this is not the same thing as
"ought we to clone humans?" The people who attempted to build the tower of Babel
after the flood were busy trying to answer "yes" to the question "Can we build
the tower?" but never got around to asking the really important question of
"Should we build the tower?"
The lab where Dolly was cloned had seen plenty of dead sheep embryos on its way
to its first success. I wonder how many dead human embryos have already been
produced in experimentation. Human life is a gift from God, and to kill it off
in the first stages of life is both unethical and immoral. Hands are busy today
shedding innocent blood. What will future advancement in the field that gave us
Dolly really cost us as human beings?
I have heard the wonderful plans envisioned by those who are pressing on with
research. Growing spare parts for ourselves to replace ours when they wear out
or are damaged. Simply go to the clone bank and take the spare part off your
clone. I have a better idea.
Obey the gospel. Then, when this body wears out or is damaged to where it can no
longer sustain life, bury it, and wait for the resurrection, when we will be
raised with new bodies; incorruptible, spiritual, glorious, beautiful, and
eternal. Then, rejoice with exceeding joy forever through the ages to come.
By Jon W. Quinn
The Final Page
From Expository Files 6.9; September 1999
