Does a clone have a soul?

[Chosen One]

This was from a Rabbi. Not a Christian leader.

His opinion is meaningless to us Christians.

 

[Ginny]

BRAVO BRAVO

 

[SpaceProg]

Any living being? How about bacteria?

Why not?

 

[Dracil]

Humans have souls. It's not a traite that man can breed out of the species. How offensive to claim that another human is souless! Even if it were possible to tell if a person is absent a soul, there is no way to justify enslaving, abusing and using another living being.

Any living being? How about bacteria?

Why not?

Because by living, you use bacteria. By taking antibiotics and other medicine, you abuse bacteria. By using bacteria to combat other bacteria, you've essentially enslaved the bacteria to fight for you.

Any further questions?

 

[lucid42day]

I would date a clone, and maybe even vote for one.

After seeing "The Island" in a theater last night, I fervently believe that any clone of Scarlett Johannson would have a soul I'd like to date or vote for.

 

[revolutio]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was my understanding that a clone is basically the same thing genetically as an identical twin.

Yep, it is pretty much just pre-natal cosmetic surgery. If anything identical twins could potentially have much more in common since they share a womb and thus almost identical development conditions. Plus, from a psychological perspective, their first three years will probably be spent together thus giving them far more similar personalities than a clone is likely to have.

When we start artificially crafting DNA strands, then we can call clones "man-made", right now we are just copying God's handiwork.

 

[night2day]

Not that Dolly aged faster, but had already-aged genes. You accumulate mutations in your genome over your lifetime, and these were passed to Dolly, so she was already old when born.

Actually the animal did age faster. She also had many health problems at a young age. When telling of the animal's age no one I never heard or read of someone giving 10 differnt answers to indicate her various physical and genetic age factors.

So why do so as if it's relavant now?

The facts still stand as they are. And it still remains the entire process takes lives to try to either create others or to simple harvest organs. Hardly a noble goal for any civalized society.

​

 

[billwald]

There are at least 4 theories for the origin of the soul. If God makes souls (is forced to make souls) for conceptions he knows will be aborted then I wonder about his wisdom and/or ability.

 

[Mongoose]

Does a clone have a soul?

Any answer to that question is completely arbitrary. We really don't even know if anything has a "soul."

 

[SpaceProg]

Because by living, you use bacteria. By taking antibiotics and other medicine, you abuse bacteria. By using bacteria to combat other bacteria, you've essentially enslaved the bacteria to fight for you.

Any further questions?

The Bacteria aren't really enslaved so much as given new place to perform what they do best. The new hunting/breeding ground would be the human body instead of in a test tube or petri dish.

 

[Dracil]

Is it not being enslaved to be stored inside a test tube until you need to be used directly, or being grown so compounds you make can be extracted for the basis of medicine?

No really, just think about it being applied to humans by some other more powerful sentient beings. You're cryogenically frozen, until one of them gets sick, where you are thawed, and your blood, urine, baby, whatever gets drawn out for their medicine, and then you are put back into the freezer.

 

[SpaceProg]

I take your point. It's a judgement call in a lot of ways. We can only hope that the bacteria aren't sentient to the point that they're aware of how well they could have it where they not in a petri dish for the benefit of mankind.

 

[mutantleader]

This was from a Rabbi. Not a Christian leader.

His opinion is meaningless to us Christians.

LOL! A rabbi's opinon is meaningless? You are kidding, right? I guess scientific opions are also meaningless. How about a particular rabbi that was crucified some two thousand years ago?

God gave us the tools of science. Life exists because of God. A clone is a genetic duplicate of a creature, plant, etc. A clone (in my opinion) would have a soul just like the original. It is just another form of biological engineering. I recall these same cries of playing God when the first test tube baby was concieved.

Don't blame the scientists, blame the science.

 

[Jatopian]

there is no way to justify enslaving, abusing and using another living being.

So, agriculture is wrong? I dare say eating something counts as abuse. What about antibiotics that abuse bacteria? Need I go on?

 

[Ginny]

LOL! A rabbi's opinon is meaningless? You are kidding, right? I guess scientific opions are also meaningless. How about a particular rabbi that was crucified some two thousand years ago?

Jewish people, besides Messianic Jews, do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. That is the point to Chosen One's posting. As a Christian he is correct in saying that his opinion is meaningless to him.

 

[night2day]

...I guess scientific opions are also meaningless.

Science is a study and an exploration of the natural world around us. By no means can the human race even claim to understand any or all it's realms. How many times throughout history and even now have men been proven wrong time and again? God's the one who sets the rules.

Furthermore, the rabbi was speaking of a theological issue from the perspective of the Jewish faith. Guess that part was missed.

...A rabbi's opinon is meaningless? ...How about a particular rabbi that was crucified some two thousand years ago?

Quite a differance between comparing a rabbi and God Himself. Read The Gospel of John for starters. Jesus is, was, and always will be God. He wasn't always Man. From Chapter 1:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men...He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not...But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us..."
​

God gave us the tools of science. Life exists because of God. A clone is a genetic duplicate of a creature, plant, etc. A clone (in my opinion) would have a soul just like the original. It is just another form of biological engineering.

And what or who is being engineered? How much will this toying with human DNA and gentics go? What's the actual purpose? Wipe out disease? Or discriminate because of disease? Make perfect human shells? Sounds alot like what someone else tried to do in attempting to create a "master race". Or make perfect human body part replacements? Already doing so with third trimester partial-birth abortions via organ harvest. Not just in the U.S.

The stripping away of the rights of the vulnerable has already begun long ago. Without a wave to hold or restrain it back...I don't see why the continuing of those stripping of rights wouldn't continue. All in the name of the scientific arts.

...I recall these same cries of playing God when the first test tube baby was concieved.

So? Doesn't mean they weren't correct. Out of every baby that's concievd and survives the process, many others die and are tossed away. I don't call that a succsessfull rate by any means.

 

[TwinCrier]

So, agriculture is wrong? I dare say eating something counts as abuse. What about antibiotics that abuse bacteria? Need I go on?

No, jeez. I presumed you could figure out I meant human beings. My bad.

 

[night2day]

No, jeez. I presumed you could figure out I meant human beings. My bad.

I think they like referring from human beings to bacteria whenever it suits their purposes. Don't let it bother you.

 

[tqpix]

This is why religion shouldn't involve itself in science. It will only lead to abuse, such as this. If we took his advice, we would use clone slave labor and have no issues with killing them.

If we took his advice, we wouldn't be cloning.

 

[night2day]

The various fields of the sciences could use a good dose of ethics...that's for certain. Not to mention responsibility and accountability.