A New List of Sins?
The Catholic Church announced today that they have devised a new list of sins that are “certain violations of the fundamental rights of human nature through experiments, genetic manipulations.” This means the church is changing their tune a bit and moving beyond the traditional seven deadly sins. I think this is a good thing. My problem with the Church is they spend far too much time chastizing people and focusing on sins.
The new areas of focus will be drugs, global atrocities (a good thing to focus on!), the financial disparity between the rich and the poor, and “certain violations of the fundamental rights of human nature through experiments, genetic manipulations.” I can only assume this is meaning stem cell and cloning research. Maybe genetic testing for genetic disorders. I’m not really sure. I agree that the church should focus more on declaring an opinion on global climate change due to humans and they should continue doing work in the poorer areas of the world to help bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.
But should they be dictating medical research? Being a follower of Christ, I do wonder if there is a line to draw. I don’t want to ‘play God’ per se. But I believe God gave humans intelligence for a reason. I do not think we should ever willingly clone humans or animals (even if it has been done), but I do not see a problem with us using stem cells to find cures for ailments that create a painful existance. I know that people would argue that these trials are so people will rely on God and find comfort and compassion in other aspects of life. But isn’t it our duty to help those in need if we can? Is that not what Jesus would do?
It’s a double-edged sword, I guess. We will not know until we meet our Maker. However, I do think that the Catholic Church’s new idea to focus less on pre-marital sex and more on the environment and the social/economic problems is a good way to go. So much is wrong with the world, but let’s be sure to fight the fight’s that matter, okay?
my understanding is that they aren’t completely against genetic research, just stem cell research from the perspective of it being akin to abortion in that you’re killing off some embryos of potential children. but considering that greater knowledge of things like parkinson’s disease (which afflicted John Paul II for years before he passed away) can come from genetic research, i think they recognize that it’s a viable research option to do greater good. i think they’re just really guarded about it because it’s such a fine line.