So I read this week that George Bush exercised his veto power on a bill that a majority of America supports, namely federal funding for stem cell research. I can deal with this, just barely. Then I read a quote from someone in the administration's badly overworked public relations department, Spokesman Tony Snow, where he referred to stem cell research as "murder."
Now I'm pissed.
How is it possible that an entire country stands by while our fearless leader hijacks important medical research on the basis of an antiquated and ludicrous religious belief that even a fertilized egg in a cup has a "soul?" Are religious types so desperate to be right that they will defend their unfounded beliefs to the death even in the face of clear logical evidence to the contrary?
I will not deny the existence of a soul. I believe that every individual on the planet has one. I don't believe it's a divine gift, however--its' merely the psychological summation of everything a person believes about themself and their place in the world. Soul is a gimmick, a metaphor, a word to describe something that there's no words to describe. Embryos have a potential for life, no more or less.
This fanatical devotion to a fictional character does more than simply disturb me. It angers me, especially when I see it in relatively intelligent people. I have a family full of smart, thoughtful people who are regularly offended by homosexuals, premarital sex, democrats, and embryo killers. Most hardship in my life has been met with the distinctly unsatisying "We're praying for you." Thanks for praying, why not throw some pennies in a wishing well, so long as we're pretending some unseen and unproven force is going to save us from our troubles?
There's no point to this, just flipping through news articles from this week and getting riled up for no reason. Oh well. Apologies all around. Pray for me.
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