Your Opinion: Science has improved quality of life

Dear Editor:

On Mr. Horstmann's Op-Ed published May 13 "genetic tinkering."

I agree with one small part of Horstmann's position. It would be nice if we could feed all the starving people. As a race, I believe we humans fail there.

The argument "It is the epitome of arrogance and disregard for the future of humanity for any scientist to think they can emulate God by participating in these experiments to circumvent or diminish the natural male gene. The ramifications of these foolish endeavors are beyond any ones wildest imagination."

Never having actually met Horstmann, I will bet that he is alive today (as am I) due to scientific breakthroughs from research that some at the time decried as "against God, or playing God." If not simple vaccination, how about surgery, anesthesia, antibiotics, or a host of others too numerous to list?

Remember the flap over "test tube babies"? We heard the same argument then. The Rapture still hasn't come. Science is simply a search for truth. Some French scientists created sperm cells from other stem cells? (A stem cell is simply an unspecialized cell that can become several types of daughter cells.)

Not pursuing research because "God wouldn't like it" is short sighted and silly theology. Who are we mere humans to know the desires, wants and opinions of God? All we have is a 2,000-year-old book that Christians thump, and they can't even agree on whether it makes same sex marriage a sin.

It is short sighted from the pragmatic side; if the science is there, someone is going to find it. Take for example atomic weapons. I'm quite thankful that it was we who found it first, and not some other governments of the time.

OK. Maybe the atomic weapons analogy is a bit "over the top." The point is still sound. If research leads to betterment of humanity, I'm for it. Consider, if you will, life one century ago. Nowadays is a bit different isn't it? Knowledge is expanding at an exponential rate.

Life a century from now will be different than it is now, probably more different than the span from now back. Frankly, you want to know what bothers me the most about French scientists making discoveries? The fact that it wasn't us. Are we becoming a second-rate nation because we are all balled up in our underwear over theology?

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