Bob: Hey Reverend Michael, How are ya?

Reverend: Why hello there Robert, I am doing mighty fine this gorgeous Friday afternoon. And You? How are your studies going?

Bob: I'm cool too. I have great news!

Reverend: What is it?

Bob: I've just received an A+ on my genetics semester final exam!

Reverend: Well, Congratulations. Well done, my boy, well done! What did you study in your course of genetics?

Bob: Lots of fun stuff. Like, my favorite was the cloning and stem research stuff, those rock!

Reverend: Why, yes, they are very important issues in our society today. I am glad that you have studied them and now you know what correct moral and religious decisions to make if you become a scientist in those field.

Bob: Uh... whatdya mean correct decisions? I was in it for the fun stuff like mutated sheep and cow kidneys grown from stem-cells!

Reverend: What I mean is that you can't be a fool when it comes to cloning and stem-cell research, especially when God has given you such great intelligence.

Bob: Ahhh... I see now, yeah,....mhm... well I'm 100% in favor of everything that has to do with cloning and stem-cell research, I mean, like, ain't everyone for it?

Reverend: No, this is not true at all. Many political, social, and religious issues are at stake when it comes to cloning, so there will always be many counter-arguments every step of the way.

Bob: Hmm... I never thought of that... cool... like, we can argue with people about it, eh?

Reverend: No, there is no argument to be had. There are just some stem researches that you just can't conduct and cloning is just plain wrong, especially large-scale cloning.

Bob: Whoa! Dude, you're trippin'... whatdya mean cloning is wrong? Why are you against large-scale cloning?

Reverend: Large scale cloning could completely deplete genetic diversity, this is against God's will. He created us all to be unique and special in our own way. Also, if cloning is conducted through a parent with a genetic disease, then, the “offspring” will have that disease also and the generation of children to come will also have the disease.

Bob: Ahh... well, dude, I'm with ya on that one, that actually sorta makes sense. I mean, we don't want all these weird hemophiliacs walking around being all bloody. But that's the only reason not to clone. And, if diseases can be passed on, that means genius inclinations towards musical, artistic or athletic achievements will also be passed on. Wouldn't we want at least more totally dope musicians all over this great big world? Don't you think this is a good enough reason to clone?

Reverend: First of all, I don't want anyone “dope” anywhere. Secondly, so what if some people turn out musically talented because their parents were also. This does not prove to be reason enough to clone since cloned people might have a reduced life expectancy. This means that they will DIE.

Bob: Not necessarily. I mean, it's just the risk we'll have to take.

Reverend: What about the possible risk of mutation? Are you not worried about cloned humans that will be born with two heads?

Bob: Two-headed sheep are so funny! But I guess if I saw a two-headed baby, it would be sad. But we have all those cool technology things that will make us know if the baby is mutated, right? Don't you think that super-duper, ultra-cool sound thing will be powerful enough to see these mutated babies when they are still in the womb?

Reverend: To some extent, yes, it might be detectable. But, the fetus might suffer from some disorder that is not detectable by ultrasound. They may be born disabled or different disorders may materialize later in life. Since these problems have been seen in other cloned mammals, there is no reason to assume that they will not happen in humans.

Bob: That's kinda freaky then. But, this is a whole scientific breakthrough if we can clone! Imagine, producing a human that is genetically identical to the other human. Besides, with cloning, even lesbians can have a child that is genetically similar to them! That's be way cool. Lesbians on their own are cool, but lesbians with someone that looks like the two of them, it's mind boggling! Don't you think we should allow cloning, at least for them?

Reverend: Yes, we will be able to produce a person that is genetically identical to another person, whether it be a combination of a man and a woman, or woman and woman. This brings more immorality to our world. The ability to clone children would promote lesbianism, causing God's will of man/woman unity to be forgotten in the dust. This will bring us straight down to hell and the apocalypse. Bob: umm... sure... the lips yeah...

Reverend: You young, foolish boy. Let me tell you something that you will understand. If cloning will be possible between two women, then there would be no genetic need or any need for men, and all males could be allowed to die off.

Bob: Ahh... whoa... that's dangerous! All those chicks can just kill us and make this an amazon-type world, eh?...freaky! Well alrighty, I think I understand the religious and moral concepts behind cloning. But what could possibly be wrong with stem-cell research? What is the biggest thing that you think is wrong with stem cell research?

Reverend: The biggest problem with stem-cell research is that the largest amount of research is done by the scientists who use stem-cells extracted from embryos in the research process.

Bob: Yeah, so?

Reverend: You were an embryo once, can you imagine if you were the one killed for this research? An embryo is a full human person, and it has all of the rights of any citizen, including the right to life. An embryo is a human being thus, the act of extracting stem cells from an embryo is murder.

Bob: I think that a human forms on the third month of pregnancy. But that's my opinion, and I don't want to get into the whole abortion debate now. But, embryos aren't “babies” that are aborted. They show such promise, and these embryos will be flushed down the toilet anyway!

Reverend: They don't need to be destroyed. It is possible to adopt those embryos and perform “rescue surrogacy” so that they can be implanted, and a healthy baby can be born.

Bob: Yeah, some people do that rescue thing. But, many are still thrown away.

Reverend: Let me give you a little metaphor to the situation. Do you know that in the 1930’s and 1940’s, Nazis "destroyed" most of Europe’s Jews, Poles, etc. because these people weren’t "useful" to their vision of a pure Aryan-race society. Somewhere along the line, it occurred to the Nazis that there was no sense wasting all this perfectly good "material". They began to perform painful and destructive medical experiments on them. The pain can probably be compared to the experiments that stem-cell researchers conduct on embryos. Fortunately, the scale of embryo destruction is nowhere near that of the Nazis’ assault on concentration camp victims. Yet.

Bob: Whoa, world history and science intertwined, sweet. I see your point. When I look at it this way, it does seem kind of yucky, comparing embryo farms to concentration camps brings sadness to my heart. But you see, rev, isn't it worth killing embryos for the goodness this research will bring? Stem cell research can eventually lead to cures for stuff like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and all these other diseases that are occurring more and more often in our world.

Reverend: I just don't think that it's better to save some people from natural human diseases and at the same time destroy millions of potential human lives. Especially since we don't know if we will ever find any of these cures through stem-cell research.

Bob: It is pretty risky, wasting embryos for this research. But we as a society, need to advance technologically and medically,and without embryonic stem-cell research, we'll never find a way to cure all of these diseases. And, saving lives is morally and religiously correct, isn't that so? Is using embryos the only way for this research to occur?

Reverend: You are right, saving lives is what God wants us to do but killing embryos is not His will. And, yes, there is another way to complete the research! Stem cells come not only from embryos, but also from bone marrow, placentas left over from birth, and fatty tissue. Stem cells from these sources are incapable of growing into a complete person. They may develop into nerve cells or heart cells. But, at most, they can become an organ, not a complete living person.

Bob: Well, then why do we even use embryonic stem cells?

Reverend: The quality from embryonic stem-cells is considered to be much better than from these other sources.

Bob: Well that's just stupid! We are killing millions of potential babies just because we like the stem-cells from slaughtered soon-to-be babies better. That is horrifying and irresponsible, and definitely morally wrong Reverend: (nodding) I am so glad that you see this the correct way now. I am very glad that you were willing to listen and understand the issues concerning cloning and stem-cell research. (gives Bob a hug)

Bob: Thank you so much reverend, I'm going to go and write a letter to government pleading them to ban embryonic stem-cell research.(waves good-bye, and walks away).

Reverend: (Shouting) BOB! Don't forget to tell them to ban cloning while there at it .

Bob: (Shouting back) Sure thing, my spiritual counselor!

Reverend: (Chuckles softly to himself)...heheh....one more converted, millions left to go (turns right and sees a student exiting Harvard Medical School). Why hello there James, How are you doing this gorgeous Friday evening?