Editor’s note: This paper is meant to skip between the two issues presenting both sides at once. It was researched through e-mails from governor’s school friends and that is why.
What is cloning? Cloning is, by definition, the taking of a cell from a living animal and inserting its nuclear genetic material in the place of that of a mature egg cell. The resulting zygote is placed in a female and allowed to the grow into whatever it is suppose to be in a “normal” way. There are several reasons for and against cloning. Some of these reasons rely on the existence of a God and of a soul, others do not.
First off, how is it that cloning could be against God’s will? Cloning is exactly what happens in normal fertalization (the production of gametes, etc.) except that all the genes come from one parent instead of two. Is this suppose to “beat God at his own game”? Is it suppose to trick him into not putting a soul into something because it didn’t come about the way most others do? What kind of God couldn’t do somthing like this? Humans are far from Gods, yet they have abilities similar to the ones described. Through my computer, I can transer whole computer programs thousands of miles away and even write new ones and transfer those. If I can do this, how is it that a being of omnipotence would not be able to do even more?
Of course, there is the possibility of completely skipping natural birth. I mean cloning in a test tube, similar to en vitro firtalization, but it’s cloning. Imagine an ad on TV: “Want to have a kid, but don’t want to go through all the hassle like losing your figure for nine months and then painful childbirth? Then come to Clones-R-Us where you can get your very own clone to be YOUR, yes, your child for only $999.99.” This also brings up the point of who would be the guardian of the child? If a large corporation were to buy a large cloning vat and mass produced clones, they would more than likely be the legal guardians. Of course, this also means that they could work them to no end with no pay or compensation. On top of that, what if we were to start trying to make the perfect clone? Mess around with the genes a little to make the perfect type of person. We could even clone them by category. “Come on down to Clones Unlimited. We have worker clones, secretary clones, fighters, builders, lawyers, anything you could possible want. We even sell them full grown if you like.” No one has a problem with fixing birth defects such as inherited diseases, but what about designing someone for a particular line of work? On top of that, what if we accidentally started removing genes that turned out to be crucial to our survival? We have adapted quite well to what our environment has shaped us out to be, but what if we alter some seemingly trivial characteristic which we must have in order to survive?
Of course, if we think about it, science has brought us a pretty good ways. No one questioned the discovery of pennicilin or flu vaccines. Would this be considered interfering with God’s overal plan for the human race? What if someone were to discover the cure for aids or cancer? Would we want to have to denounce our claims before someone or something because we discovered a truth that wasn’t fully accepted by all? Of course not. The ability to clone is simply the discovery of another truth. What we do with that truth is the big thing. The problem is not that we can do it or that we do it. It’s in what we do with our knowledge, how we use it that matters. Let’s take another look at the problem of deleting a crucial genetic code. What if instead of removing something we needed, we instead discovered something that boosted our survival and prosperity just through a simple gene reconfiguration? Would people go against that? No, it’s something good.
But aren’t there enough people in the world today? Why do we want to be making more, and at that making them exactly like someone that already exists? Okay, they could be used for scientific research. But we already established that they would have a soul, so it would be inhumane to do test on them just because they were created for that purpose. If they had a soul then they would have freedom of choice and I don’t know of many people that would want to just go along with whatever and have any kind of test perfomed on them in the name of science.
Okay, so let’s not do test on them. So laws will have to be passed to regulate the use of cloning technology and the treatment of clones. Cloning is something that could change the very fabric of our society should it one day become possible with humans, which I believe it eventually will. It would be very easy to make a wrong move and eventually face another Civil War over this issue, or even another World War. Cloning is a powerful thing. It’s not nessecarily bad...yet. It, like all other scientific discoveries, will show it’s worth and it’s consequences once it has been tried. And most importantly, when we as humans show what we will do with this technology.