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On 23/06/2020 20:45, John K Clark wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:mailman.6.1592941539.14588.extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4">The
US Conference of Catholic Bishops is complaining about several
promising COVID-19 vaccines because they were manufactured
with the help of cells from a fetus that was aborted way back
in 1972. It's too bad these experts on morality didn't express
the same moral outrage when they heard about sexual abuse of
young boys by their priests.</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font size="4"><a
href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6496/1170?rss=1"
moz-do-not-send="true">Vaccines that use human fetal cells
draw fire</a><br>
</font></div>
<div><font size="4"><br>
</font></div>
</blockquote>
<br>
The biggest problem with this, as I see it, is not the immediate
issue of condemning a promising vaccine (which is bad enough), but
the much more serious and longer-term one of stigmatising an entire
field that should be taken seriously, but because of these religious
idiots, is more likely to be either derided and ignored, or cause
confusion for the majority of people.<br>
<br>
Genuine ethical concerns about new technology are routinely
conflated with superstitious beliefs and prejudices. This is leading
to babies being thrown out with bathwater. I've even caught myself
thinking "ethics, schmethics", but then realised that there actually
are genuine ethical concerns that need to be addressed. Just not by
religiously-motivated 'bioethicists'.<br>
<br>
What we need is a way to claim back morality and ethics from
religion, and turn them from obeisance to an imaginary tyrant to
concern for people's well-being.<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Ben Zaiboc</pre>
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