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http://www.omniture.com --> Sections Home Page Local News AP News Blogs Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Multimedia Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Road Cams Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Distinctly Northwest Women in Business Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend August 6, 2006 Stem-cell talk set for Religion and Philosophy Center By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Opposition to stem-cell research was orchestrated by the Vatican and "copied" by American Evangelicals "to increase their power and influence," by showing respect for human dignity — but it's had the opposite effect. So says the Rev. Ted Peters of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley — a presenter at this weekend's Jefferson Center for Religion and Philosophy Summer Institute in Ashland. His talk, "The Worldwide Stem Cell Controversy: The Science, Theology, and Ethics" is at 10:30 a.m. today at the Unitarian Center, Fourth and C streets, Ashland. Evangelicals and the Vatican made a "big mistake," Peters said in an interview, because they "didn't attend to the dignity of those with genetic disease and were simply blind to how medical science could be a manifestation of God's love in helping relieve human suffering." Peters said Catholics and Evangelicals attempted to get feminist forces on board in their battle against stem-cell research, but feminists, he noted, said this "was not their battle." Stem-cell research requires a human embryo fertilized in the laboratory and, since this is done outside a woman's body, the embryo is "not a souled human person with protectable dignity," Peters said, adding, "ensoulment does not occur in a Petri dish. I just want to say that's silly and there's no theology to warrant that belief." However, he said, the Christian concern for the love of babies goes back to early days in Rome, when Christians protested abandonment of children Romans thought unfit — an ethic continued in their opposition to abortion. "What's wrong here, though," Peters said, "is that it's being applied in a laboratory, the idea of a connection of stem-cell research with abortion, to capitalize on the energy mobilized from the abortion debate. They were looking for a way to increase their power and influence. They were coming from concern for the erosion of respect in the world for human dignity." But Jeff Savage, chairman of the pastoral council at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Medford, roundly disagreed with Peters' assertions, noting that science has moved past the need for embryonic cells and can readily achieve needed research on adult cells or those from umbilical cords. "The focus of the debate on embryonic stem cells reveals the attempt by abortion-rights supporters to keep (abortion) legal," Savage said. "It's a political game, not a science game." Savage added that criticism of President Bush on the topic is "unfair" because he supports much stem-cell research, but "he's just against killing the fetus to obtain cells for such research." As for when the soul enters a fertilized embryo, Savage said it's just "opinion" that a laboratory specimen doesn't have a soul and "it's like saying some ethnic group doesn't have souls, so it's OK to enslave them." Reflecting on a conference where he saw hundreds of people in wheelchairs and walkers, supporting research into cures for genetic diseases, Peters noted "the people with Parkinson's and such diseases are the ones deserving of that dignity." Peters said the controversy is not part of a battle between good and evil because that takes place in each human heart. "The problem in Washington is a greed for power, wanting to make its own constituency wealthy and using religious rhetoric to align itself as 'good,' " he said. "It's really the big lie, a smoke screen. The battle over good and evil is not between Washington and the terrorists but in facing that big lie." But Savage questioned whether supporters of embryonic stem-cell use are free of religious rhetoric, saying, "It's a big lie for them to say there can be no stem-cell research unless more live human embryos are killed. The smoke screen is that this (debate) is really about abortion rights." The stem-cell controversy will likely "peter out," Peters said, because American scientists are going abroad to research in Singapore and other nations where it's less restricted. His home state of California is supporting a considerable amount of stem-cell research and will lure many of these researchers back, he added. "We have a moral responsibility to support this research because the benefits for the human race could be enormous," he said. "The risk of immorality is if we keep it from going forward." The Jefferson Center holds lectures and a round table all weekend. It's $25 per lecture or $175 for the series, with ongoing salon discussions all year. Visit www.thejeffcenter.org . John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected]. Advertisement s Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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