I don’t know exactly what a human zygote is in the hierarchy of human life and I can’t say with any certainty when a soul comes into being. So when people of faith suggest that they prefer to believe the quintessential essence of humanity attaches at the moment an egg and sperm unite, who am I to disagree? And when people logically suggest a life isn’t a life and a soul born until it can sustain itself outside its mother’s womb, empirically I cannot deny that statement either. No one, at least to my knowledge, can dispositively deny or confim either statement, categorically.  

What I can say is that I think that people who contemptuously denigrate others for their beliefs on either side go too far; just as Ms. Blumner did in the above entitled column she published on January 7, 2007.  I pride myself on my reasoning abilities, but I am not presumptuous enough to believe that my logic should supplant the logic or religious beliefs of those with whom I do not agree. And I think Ms. Blumner can make better arguments to advance stem cell research then callously ridiculing others who do not share her “wisdom.”

I agree that far too many people have died as a result of conflicts seemingly ignited for religious purposes. However, if Ms. Blumner used a bit of her reasoning skills as she exhorts others to do she might uncover that it wasn’t religion per se that incited these wars but men and women succumbing to their human frailties, using logic and impassioned appeals to instigate others to carry out their evil, vile and destructive plans. Let me say that again another way because the meaning is too important to overlook. It’s not religion that’s at fault but those who subvert religion and use it as a pretext to cover their malevolent purposes who are at fault.

Again, I for one cannot say when a soul attaches; but I do believe everyone has a right to make their own conscious decision based upon whatever evidence they want. And I also believe people who allow their decision to be guided by their faith should not have to suffer the ignorant ridicule, the allegedly well reasoned stupidity of the uncouth precisely because the purveyor of such slip-shod reasoning just may well be once again subverting religion to nefarious purposes.

 

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