NationStates Jolt Archive

If we take it as given that it is a sin to destroy an embryo because it has the potential to create new life, then would the development of cloning technology that makes it possible to create new life using any cell make it a sin to destroy any human cell?

It would be if we were actually creating life. All we are doing is innitiating the processes that can lead to life. That doesn't prevent the process from being stopped at some point by nature. Look at the number of natural pregnancies terminated early due to complications.

Every time you scratch or get a sunburn, you are destroying cells in a manner. I don't think destroying cells is a sin due to that. If it is, all of humanity is damned.

O God! I thought we had some rights in place for those poor defenseless cells! Call an emergency meeting in both houses, this needs to be resolved immediately! What has this wreched science led us to? No... dandruff! Jesus what have I done!

*jumps out window in fit of guilt*

I was thinking maybe we could have some sort of compromise. I mean maybe we could be forgiven for any cells that die as part of simply living, but if we undertook any activity at all beyond simply existing, that would be a sin.

Much the same as being a [insert sect of choice] is now.

Damn, another embryonic debate! And this thread had such a cool title...

Damn, another embryonic debate! And this thread had such a cool title...
Sorry, how about if I did a thread disscussing if having sex with a robot would be cheating on your husband/wife?

I thought the idea was that Eve made us all sinners because of Original Sin. Hence technology doesn't make us sinners, merely unoriginal.

Damn, another embryonic debate! And this thread had such a cool title...Yeah, I was about to mention the internet and television...

religion makes sinners of us all

Sorry, how about if I did a thread disscussing if having sex with a robot would be cheating on your husband/wife?

That sounds like a cool topic to discuss.

Sorry, how about if I did a thread disscussing if having sex with a robot would be cheating on your husband/wife?Hm? How far would AI have to be developed before it was adultry and not just immoral behavior? :p

Hm? How far would AI have to be developed before it was adultry and not just immoral behavior? :p

What about if an android seduced you, and you were unaware until you violated her power socket, recieving a nasty shock? Is that rape?

That sounds like a cool topic to discuss.

Sounds more like an electrifying topic to me :p.

If we take it as given that it is a sin to destroy an embryo because it has the potential to create new life, then would the development of cloning technology that makes it possible to create new life using any cell make it a sin to destroy any human cell?

God used IVF to get Jesus's mum pregnant. :p

Sorry, how about if I did a thread disscussing if having sex with a robot would be cheating on your husband/wife?
No one should need a double polaroid!

Technology already made sinners of us all: The Earth is no longer at the center of the universe.

You missunderstand the pro-life argument. Pro-lifer's don't claim a human embryo is "potential life" (that is actually a pro-choice idea). They claim that the human embryo is a full human life. As human life they believe it is worth protection. Therefore killing any random cell that only has potential to be made into an embryo is not imoral because those individual cells are not a full human life.

Now, if you made those cells into an embryo then killed it that would be a different argument.

This reminds me of the old argument suggesting that pro-lifers save all their sperm and eggs. Which can be explained away the same way.

You missunderstand the pro-life argument. Pro-lifer's don't claim a human embryo is "potential life" (that is actually a pro-choice idea). They claim that the human embryo is a full human life. As human life they believe it is worth protection. Therefore killing any random cell that only has potential to be made into an embryo is not imoral because those individual cells are not a full human life.

So at which point does my toe nail become a full human life? When I clip it with the intention of cloning it? When I put it in the cloning machine? When it has a heart beat? When it is newborn? When it has kids of its own? When it has grandchildren? Never? When is my clone a human life?

So at which point does my toe nail become a full human life? When I clip it with the intention of cloning it? When I put it in the cloning machine? When it has a heart beat? When it is newborn? When it has kids of its own? When it has grandchildren? Never? When is my clone a human life?

Well, I assume you are probably trolling, but I'll respond anyway.

Your toenail will never become human life considering that it is made of keratin, which is only a protein. Anyway where human life begins is what the whole pro-life argument is about. My point is that pro-lifers aren't arguing to protect potential life, but life itself. For example, I don't know any pro-lifers arguing to protect all sperm, and if you find one who does, he is certainly out of the mainstream. The strictest mainstream pro-life position says human life begins at conception. If forced to define it further I would say that basically any cell capable of becoming a child on its own, when in the right environment (such as the womb) is human life.

So if I was cloning something when would it become a new human life? In most cases mammalian cloning starts by taking an adult cell and removing its DNA. (Human cloning doesn't work because certain alterations occur during development that would have to be reversed and reset. Lets assume we are able to do this.) Then the DNA is removed from an unfertilized egg and the DNA from the adult cell is put in. At this point the cell is a human being. So after this point, by the strictest pro-life stance, it would be wrong to kill it.

Sorry, how about if I did a thread disscussing if having sex with a robot would be cheating on your husband/wife?

all for it. when do we start?

All for it. when do we start?
Whenever you want. No need to wait for me.

Then the DNA is removed from an unfertilized egg and the DNA from an adult cell is put in. At this point the cell is a human being.
Okay, I think I understand what you are saying here. A cell that can develop into a baby in a womb (natural or artificial) is a human, reguardless of whether it was cloned or not. So if I put my DNA in an egg it and implanted it in my womb, it would become a human provided it could grow there.

No one should need a double polaroid!
and thus Red Dwarf teaches us the advantages of using robots for sex (provided you're a chick)