Christians and stem cells

"How should we as Christians respond to stem-cell research?," Christianity Today. October 4, 2011--It is becoming progressively more difficult politically to argue that we should respect the human life of those bundles of cells that hold promise for potential cures of diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Of course, such cures remain theoretical, the only proven therapies coming from adult stem cells. Yet true believers in embryonic stem-cell research find our opposition heartless. They tell us we are imposing archaic moral codes on society. They tell us we care little about alleviating suffering or forestalling death.

It can be hard to know how to respond, since the logic of these believers appeals to a deep Christian instinct: to offer healing to those who suffer. No wonder even many Christians wonder: So what's the big deal, especially if we might save or extend human lives?

The problem is not just the immoral destruction of the embryos from which stem cells are extracted. The larger cultural issue is an ethic of immortality that undergirds the push for embryonic stem-cell research. It's an ethic that has already warped our culture's perspective and now threatens to warp our Christian worldview, too. Quest for Immortality
Perhaps our culture clings so tenaciously to the hope of extended youthfulness and lasting life because we have shoved death from view. "All the things that once prepared us for death-regular experience with illness and death, public grief and mourning, a culture and philosophy of death, interaction with the elderly, as well as the visibility of our own aging-are virtually gone from our lives," writes Virginia Morris in Talking About Death. "Instead, we are tempted daily by that perfect apple, by promises of youth and immortality." The apple that's currently tempting our society is the half-million frozen human embryos created in fertility clinics. Our culture so clings to life that it is prepared to legislate taking of life at its earliest stages in order to graft it on at the end.

Senior Fellow for Life Sciences, Center for Human Life and Bioethics, and CMDA Member David A. Prentice, PhD: "Proponents of embryonic stem cells continue to promise amazing cures, even though all of their treatments are theoretical. All of the success with stem cells comes from adult stem cells, including the only proven therapies for patients. The distinction is important but often overlooked--Christians are not opposed to stem cells, but only to unethical sources that target vulnerable humans. Yet proponents of embryo experiments continue to criticize those who oppose embryo research as heartless, clinging to an archaic morality and uncaring for the suffering. As the editors of Christianity Today point out, the embryo researchers’ logic touches a deep Christian instinct to heal and to help the hurting. Christian doctors have given their lives to this mission. But the editors also note that the apple the embryo researchers tempt us with is really the false promise of youth and immortality.

"Embryonic stem cell research makes a 'modest proposal'—trade a half million frozen human embryos at fertility clinics for cures, youth and immortality. But the problem is not just the unethical destruction of the young human beings from whom the stem cells are taken, but a larger problem that the editors label an 'ethic of immortality.' This cultural ethic so desperately clings to life that it would trade the earliest human lives 'in order to graft a bit of life on at the end.' Christians must not succumb to this warped perspective, but rather must consider each and every human life of matchless value.

"For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:24, ESV).

Resources
CMDA Ethics Statement: Human Stem Cell Research and Use
Stem Cell Talking Points