In the news...

Interesting news today.

DOLLY THE SHEEP CREATOR OK'D TO CLONE HUMAN EMBRYOS
The scientist who created Dolly the sheep has been given a licence to
clone human embryos for medical research.
FULL STORY:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2005/02/08/clone-050208.html

Where do I stand? I do not believe entire humans should be cloned, but I do support research cloning. I don't want a world of identical people, but there are a lot of sick people out there who could be helped with some of this research.

That brings up the subject of abortion... I haven't done a lot of research on the issue to determine precisely where I stand, but this is approximately it: I support the right to choose, up to a certain point. At what age does a fetus become a person? I'm not sure. But I think if the fetus can survive outside the mother, then it is probably a person. Of course, this theory doesn't mesh well with the American medical system... if a baby is aborted after this point, who's going to foot the medical bills to keep the baby alive until it can be adopted? (No, I don't think the baby should be aborted at this point, unless carrying the baby will probably harm the mother.)

Next article:

VATICAN CLARIFIES RULES ON ANNULMENTS
In response to a rising "divorce mentality" and soaring requests for
annulments, the Vatican has come out with a new guidebook on when it
will allow Roman Catholics to receive their church's approval that a
marriage is over.
FULL STORY:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/02/08/vatican-annulment050208.html

I'm sorry, but I find Roman Catholics and their annulments funny. Probably because of what happened when my parents got divorced. It's kind of funny from my point of view.

My father is Roman Catholic, and my mother isn't really religious. When my mother decided she wanted a divorce (they were leading essentially separate lives anyway), she wanted to have a friendly divorce, but my dad flipped. That's when the fighting started. Needless to say, the divorce happened. Now my dad had a problem... he didn't want to be alone, but Roman Catholics aren't allowed to remarry. My dad asked my mom if she'd agree to an annulment, and she said yes. (...Having wanted an amicable divorce in the first place.) There are only a few reasons the RC church will let you get a marriage annuled. As my mother put it, she willingly signed a declaration that she was not in her right mind when she married my father. The annulment was granted.

Now at this point, in the eyes of the RC church, the marriage never happened. I thought "gee, that makes me a bastard". I thought that could make for some pretty funny future punchlines, so wasn't bothered all that much. (No, I'm not RC.)

A little while later, however, another letter arrived. This one explained that, in order for there not to be any mortal sins hanging around now that the marriage never happened, that sex never happened either. (Since sex out of wedlock is a big no-no.) "Cool!" I thought, "I'm immaculate conception!" (I'm sorry if I'm upsetting the Christians here, but I needed something to laugh about at this stage.)

However, another letter soon arrived... it explained that, although sex never happened, I'm still legitimate. At this point I decided I was "inconceivable". (Have you ever watched "The Princess Bride"?)

Do you see why I find this all a little funny?