So we had an interesting discussion at Berry College tonight, featuring our own Jim Ceaser, on why Tocqueville talks up the Puritans and slights the Declaration of Independence. Ivan the K already mentioned the observation of our French visitor R. L. Bruckburger , who reminded us that the . . . . Continue Reading »
The media fell for the latest, ” I can clone a baby ,” publicity stunt yesterday. Now scientists are weighing in sputtering outrage at the thought of trying human reproductive cloning. The only problem is that there is much less to their seeming opposition then meets the eye. As usual, . . . . Continue Reading »
This is potentially huge: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, which permit tailor made, patient specific pluripotent stem cell lines to be created ethically without the use of embryos, can now be made without using genetic material. From the story, “Purely Protein Pluripotency,” in The . . . . Continue Reading »
The way you hold your head, cursin’ God with every move Ooh, I can’t stand it, I can’t stand it What are you tryin’ to prove Bob Dylan, Dead Man, Dead Man , 1981. Over at Front Porch Republic , Augustinian scholar James Matthew Wilson provides an important exegesis on . . . . Continue Reading »
Ho Hum. Just more of the same , promising news. And—it almost goes without saying—no embryos are involved: For the past couple years, there’s been a steady march toward making adult cells mimic embryonic stem cells. Success could ultimately defuse the debate over destroying embryos . . . . Continue Reading »
It’s “a hybrid of Monopoly, Risk and Clue—with a bit of theological Chutes-and-Ladders thrown in for good measure,” says one player. According to The Tablet,During the course of their careers, players “Take a Stand” on weighty theological and moral issues, . . . . Continue Reading »
No no no, not the hymn. I’m talking about, were you there. Nelson Memorial United Methodist Church. The Junior-High Sunday School Retreat. Panacea Falls State Park. Last weekend in April, 1978. Where they had the drowned mouse in the shower drain? And we had to do square-dancing on Saturday . . . . Continue Reading »
Of the many reasons why NATO expansion into Georgia and Ukraine is a bad idea, the worst must surely be that these two states would immediately add intractable instabilities to the alliance’s list of unmanageables. Abkhazia , Transnistria , Crimea — just to list these statelets, . . . . Continue Reading »
Judging by Timothy Dolan’s interview in the New York Post today, the new Archbishop of New York is the eager teacher of the faith he was expected to be. Dolan tackled clerical celibacy, traditional marriage, Obama’s commencement address at Notre Dame, and the Church’s pro-life . . . . Continue Reading »
In my last SHS post, I deconstructed the “ethical” objections of “the scientists” to reproductive cloning as really being about safety, not the inherent wrongness of human cloning itself. (Reproductive cloning is actually a misnomer. The act of cloning is somatic cell nuclear . . . . Continue Reading »
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