"By permanently banning cloning-to-produce-children, this policy gives force to the strong ethical verdict against cloning-to-produce-children, unanimous in this Council (and in Congress) and widely supported by the American people," said the ten-person majority of the 17-member council. "And by enacting a four-year moratorium on the creation of cloned embryos, it establishes an additional safeguard not afforded by policies that would allow the production of cloned embryos to proceed without delay." (The full report, including an 11-page executive summary, is available at the council's website.)
A seven-member minority doesn't want the moratorium. "The research shows great promise, and its actual value can only be determined by allowing it to go forward now," they said. "Regardless of how much time we allow it, no amount of experimentation with animal models can provide the needed understanding of human diseases."
President Bush, however, doesn't want a moratorium either—he wants an all-out ban on all forms of human cloning. "His position is based on principle," House spokesman Scott McClellan told The Washington Times. "Any attempt to clone a human being is morally wrong." A White House statement called for the Senate to "take action this year to ban all human cloning. As the Council's majority recommendation makes clear, no law should be enacted this year that authorizes any human cloning."
Conservative Christian groups were upset that the council didn't call for a total ban. "Hopefully, this report will serve as a speed bump to slow down the apparent rush to 'clone and kill' human embryos for their stem cells," said Carrie Gordon Earll, bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family. "The recommended moratorium is only a stopgap measure and does not guarantee that human embryos created by cloning will be protected. … It's disconcerting to realize that learned, intelligent individuals, like these council members, fail to understand the simple biological fact that all cloning is reproductive and creates a new human life. It is deceptive to create separate categories of human cloning based on what scientists intend to do with the embryo."
Concerned Women for America president Sandy Rios similarly argued that the act of human cloning—not the reason for the process—makes it immoral. "This decision leaves the American people vulnerable; a moratorium on a dangerous act is not enough," she said.
Family Research Council president Ken Connor praised the work of council members who worked for a total ban on human cloning, and he could at least muster one cheer: "In an environment where that which is not prohibited is permitted, a temporary moratorium on human cloning is better than no ban at all," he said. "However … in the final analysis, it's lamentable that a majority of this commission, with all of its intellectual horsepower, was unable to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil."
It all depends on your perspective It's fun to see how it Church of England's change in its teachings of divorce and remarriage got spun in the papers. All of these headlines cover essentially the same story:
Church of England rejects policy | The Church of England decided Tuesday against adopting a policy on allowing divorced people to remarry in the church, saying the decision was up to individual priests (Associated Press)
In vouchers they trust | The president's faith-based initiative needed a boost, and Zelman may have provided it (Ira C. Lupu and Robert W. Tuttle, Legal Times)
A great day, or dark one, for schools? | Within minutes, advocacy groups of all stripes were issuing statements, celebrating, or resigning themselves to uneasy coexistence or renewed opposition (Education Week)
Insurrection or precedent? | Supreme Court decisions haven't paved the way for the 9th Circuit's Pledge decision (Bruce Fein, The Washington Times)
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The march of unchristian soldiers | America's legal intention to sanctify freedom of religion has been transformed into freedom from religion (Paul Udoto, The Nation, Nairobi, Kenya)
If you're serious about God, this is a disaster | When is God not God? When He's blessing America, apparently. Or when in Him we trust. Or when this big old imperial power is one nation under Him. (Mark Kingwell, National Post, Canada)
Traditional Jews, Christians unite | Gary Bauer, Daniel Lapin unite in creating American Alliance of Jews and Christians, headquartered in Washington, D.C. (The Washington Times)
No penalty for Mich. religion remark | William Callahan said Rep. Sander Levin shouldn't represent his redrawn district because he is Jewish (Associated Press)
Thousands cheered pastor's courthouse prayer in Ripley | Jack Miller Miller, pastor at West Ripley Baptist Church, exploded into a withering criticism of abortion, homosexuality, multiculturalism and pornography (Daily Mail, Charleston, W.V.)
German parties seek gay vote | Germany's conservative Christian Democrats have broken with half a century of Roman Catholic tradition by appealing for the votes of homosexuals in the September general elections (The Times, London)
Church of Scotland brings Bible's message to bear on green issue | From Noah's mission to save the world's species from the great flood to God's warning in Deuteronomy that despoiling the Earth is blasphemy, the Bible is littered with strong environmental messages (The Scotsman)
Rules on hiring by religious groups at issue | Does the "No Child Left Behind" Act of 2001prohibit employment discrimination by religious groups receiving federal education aid? (Education Week)
Korea—a Christian success story | Christians have played a role in brining true democracy to the country, says scholar (UPI)
Michigan reverend's comments spur outrage | Condemnation of Islam and all other non-Christian faiths by a pastor in Dearborn, Mich., is at the center of a dispute raging within the 2.6-million-member Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (Knight Ridder Tribune)
California school sued over Islamic drills | Students were encouraged to wear Muslim robes, adopt Islamic names and stage make-believe pilgrimages to Mecca to learn about the faith (The Washington Times)
University's Quran reading stirs controversy | Virginia-based Family Policy Network is taking aim at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for requiring all incoming freshmen this fall to read a book about the Quran (Fox News)
Every witch way | Black magic is illegal in Zambia, but there's a lot of juju about. The results can be embarrassingly painful (Hugh Russell, The Spectator)
Tolerance or idolatry? | Relationship between the world's faiths is such a topical issue in our aeon of an ever-spreading profusion of "truths" that it requires a reflection going beyond the well-known stereotypes (Uwe Siemon-Netto, UPI)
Earlier: The Interfaith Public Square | Stand up, stand up for Jesus at civic events (Editorial, Christianity Today, Mar. 6, 2002)
Missions & ministry:
Promise Keepers to make muted encore in D.C. | The Promise Keepers men's movement hits Washington this weekend for the first time since 1997, when it packed the Mall with a crowd estimated at up to 1.1 million, a high point from which it has wound down every year since (The Washington Times)
Spreading the word | From the novel to the tried-and-true, churches use many ways to reach out to communities (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
Heaven's ad-man | Nicky Gumbel is the man who has repackaged Christianity and established it as a global brand, said the Guardian, "with all the skill of a Baby Gap marketeer." (The New Zealand Herald)
God is in the details | The Enquirer's and The Post's relentless, multi-page, multi-reporter pre-event, event and post-event coverage of Graham's visit obliterated the line between objective reporting and boosterism (Gregory Flannery, Cincinnati CityBeat)
Earlier: With Graham, crackers filling the stadium | The late George Wallace would be better suited to preach racial "healing" in Cincinnati than Graham is (Gregory Flannery, Cincinnati CityBeat)
Missionary position still haunting Samoans | Margaret Mead's portrait of Samoan teenagers as sexually available and emotionally shallow causes trouble and sexual confusion nearly 80 years later (Tapu Misa, The New Zealand Herald)
Street credibility | So why aren't the creeds regularly updated, like the rest of the liturgy, to reflect current theological understanding and emphasis? (Nick Jowett, The Guardian, London)
Christian-style capitalism grows in the South | The developers' pitch to busy modern Christians: Get all your spiritual – as well as shopping – needs fulfilled at one central location (The Christian Science Monitor)
Collection for pastor finds tax loophole | A local church has solicited donations for its pastor with specific instructions on how to help him avoid income tax (Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Saskatchewan, Canada)
Unwed urban moms gain from attending church | Urban mothers who have illegitimate children and attend church frequently are more likely to get married within a year of giving birth, according to a new study (The Washington Times)
Abstinence, monogamy, and sex | Perhaps one of the best examples of ideology impeding sound public-health policy is the current US administration's insistence that both US and international sex education programs promote the view that the only sensible approach to avoiding unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections is abstinence until marriage, followed by life-long monogamy. (PDF) (Editorial, The Lancet)
Being fruitful | Some Protestants oppose contraception (The Washington Times)
Bible:
Bible translation incites debate | Critics say Today's New International Version doesn't reflect God's intentions. Others say it merely reflects changes in English usage (St. Petersburg [Fla.] Times)
One of Apostles was a woman, Church is told | Joanna, who was close to Jesus during his ministry, changed her name to Junia and was recognized by St Paul as an Apostle, says Richard Bauckham, Professor of New Testament Studies at St Andrews University (The Times, London)
Cornerstone erupts in Bushnell | An estimated 25,000 Christians from all over the world trekked to the small town of Bushnell for the 19th annual Cornerstone Festival July 3-6 (Macomb [Ill.] Eagle)
Monthly MPR show on faith will go national | "First Person Speaking of Faith," a monthly Minnesota Public Radio show, features people talking about their faith (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
Fred Rogers gets Presidential Medal of Freedom | "Fred Rogers has proven that television can soothe the soul and nurture the spirit and teach the very young," says Bush (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Forgive Hansie in death – mag | The Christian lifestyle magazine for men, maksiman, has launched a campaign to have the lifelong ban from cricket on Hansie Cronjé lifted posthumously (Volksblad, South Africa)
A Bible fun park wholly planned | A Chechen mogul, an Israeli exporter and a Russian poet are joining forces to build a Bible theme park where Muscovites can sample dishes from the Last Supper and watch temple adulteresses dance in Canaan (The Moscow Times)
Tales of Canterbury's future? | A terror apologist may soon lead the Church of England (Peter Mullen, The Wall Street Journal)
Church faces gay clergy row | Church of England bishops are heading for an early clash with Dr Rowan Williams, who now looks certain to be Archbishop of Canterbury, over their plans to defend the Church's ban on the ordination of practicing homosexuals (The Daily Telegraph)
New rules for Christian evangelists | The Church of England's 'parliament' is being asked to lay down how far Christians can go in converting people of other faiths. (BBC)
Challenging the Church's status | Among the topics being debated by the General Synod, the parliament of the Church of England, few have such far-reaching implications as the debate over whether it should try to seize from Tony Blair, the right to choose its own bishops (BBC)
Role of bishops is now a focus of grand juries | Prosecutors across the nation have taken investigations of clerical sexual abuse before more than a dozen grand juries in recent weeks (The New York Times)
Science & health:
Prof prays for better reaction to new study | Religious belief may help those left behind recover quicker following the death of a loved one (Hampstead & Highgate Express, U.K.)
Faith protects against suicide | Suicide is not uncommon among older people - but there's a marked difference between the rates for white and African-Americans (Health and Age)
Assignment America: New abortion rules | What if we made the following rule for all people who write about abortion? If it's touched your life in any way, you can't write about it. (John Bloom, UPI)
While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
A Christian reconciliation group in Israel and Palestine warned that war would come. Now the war threatens their relevance.العربيةFrançais
The Grammy-winning artist was found dead at her home in Nashville at age 47.
