Discovering Religion: Ep 16 - Embryonic Stem Cells & Capital Punishment

The sixteenth installment of my original series, "Discovering Religion". In this episode I discuss the current actions of Christian Americans to suppress modern-day scientific advancements. In particular, I address the movement by Christians to outlaw embryonic stem cell, a stance they have no justification from the Bible in taking -- a situation that very closely parallels the Church's suppression of Roger Bacon and Galileo Galilei's scientific discoveries.

Additional information I could not include in the video:

Diabetes:
Giving insulin to children with Type I Diabetes is a viable means of treating this disease, however; after 15-20 years of living with type I diabetes, the danger continues to grow, possibly leading to kidney failure, heart disease, blindness, brain damage, and premature death. This is why stem cell research is so crucial to patients suffering from this serious condition.

Bone Marrow Transplants:
There are many patients, both child and adult, in need of bone marrow transplants that would greatly benefit from the use of stem cells. For 2/3 of them, there is no donor with an acceptable genetic match. However, even when a match is found, it is never perfect. With stem cells, doctors could grow cells customized to the needs of the patient.

On a personal note, a good friend of mine mentioned that his best friend in high school needed a marrow transplant. Each one of his friends volunteered for the test to see if they were compatible; however, an acceptable donor could not be found and eventually the boy died. This terrible scenario is played out countless times, and it may be alleviated with help from embryonic stem cell technology.


Use of Antibiotics:
In the video I mentioned the use of antibiotics kills thousands of bacterial cells during an infection. Although these cells are foreign to the human body, causing disease, there are many kinds of enteric bacteria that can be affected by these antibiotics as well. For example, patients treated with clindamycin or ampicillin may also kill of beneficial, naturally occurring bacteria in the GI tract. Once these good bacteria die off it allows dangerous bacteria, such as Clostridium difficile, to take over the gut, producing a disease known as pseudomembranous colitis.

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VIDEOS:

Michael J. Fox Embryonic Stem Cell Research
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujbLSt-7-9k

Bush On Embryo Adoption & Ethical Stem Cell Research Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k0SMJf7lso

Politics: President Obama on Stem Cell Research
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gs39k0IxZ0

Dick Cheney on Same-Sex Marriage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5jefmsqBG8

Stem Cell Footage:
http://thevisualmd.com/

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LINKS:

Stem Cell Info (wiki):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell

Texas Executions:
http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/executedoffenders.htm

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MUSIC CITED:

Donnie Darko (score) - 03 - The Artifact & Living
Donnie Darko (score) - 07 - Liquid Spear Waltz
Donnie Darko (score) - 08 - Gretchen Ross
Dexter OST - 07 - Need Time
Dexter OST - 12 - Changed
Bram Stoker's Dracula - Wojciech Kilar - Vampire Hunters

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PLAYLIST:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=70E757541E8576D7

TRANSCRIPT:
http://discoveringreligion.net/?p=215

WEBSITE:
http://www.discoveringreligion.net

FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Discovering-Religion/143122652390020?ref=ts


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Category:

Education

Tags:

• Embryonic
• Stem
• Cells
• Cloning
• Blastocyst
• Type
• Juvenile
• Diabetes
• Parkinson's
• Alzheimer's
• George
• W.
• Bush
• Barack
• Obama
• Capital
• Punishment
• Death
• Sentence
• Dick
• Cheney
• Same
• Sex
• Marriage

[extrayakster]

Our government should not be funding embryonic stem cell research. That is what Bush signed. No federal dollars for it. Private companies can step up to the plate and fund all they want.

[DiscoveringReligion]

@extrayakster

Okay... I guess you're free to your opinion. I personally think we should tax the shit out of all religious organizations, but hey, we can't have everything we want now can we?

[8698gil]

Pro-life activists are the people who have never had to make the painful and difficult choice to terminate a pregnancy. Many women who do so, do it because they already have children that they can barely afford. Its more important to care for the children that are already here. Pro-lifers actively prevent abortion, then ignore the needs of the children that are born.

[bobdaugherty820]

This video is popular on Riga

[255ad]

@8698gil I don't know what your replying to 

[8698gil]

@255ad Hunhh???

[255ad]

@8698gil having emotional personal Babbage about a difficult choice is a hindrance not a help

[255ad]

@Sines314 we judge children and younger teenagers unable to consent to sexual acts, because we judge them not mentally competent to understand and make the choice

why does not that same logic apply to the "mentally disabled"? ask your self who's more "mentally competent" a normal 14 year old girl or a grown adult with down syndrome?

[Sines314]

@AtheismCentral That is an insult to the sex-having mentally disabled community.