Ethics of Human Cloning
QUESTION: Ethics of Human Cloning - Why Do It?ANSWER:When I think of the ethics of human cloning, I recall a story I once heard:
Several scientists in the not-too-distant future had successfully cloned a human and were gloating over their achievement.
In a fit of pride, they boasted to God, "We finally understand biology sufficiently to do what only You have been able to do before - create a human being."
The scientists went on to say that, under the circumstances, they really didn't see a need for God any more.
God thought this over and said, "I'll tell you what. Let's have a competition. Each of us will create a human being just as I did in Genesis and, if you are successful, I'll agree to let you go on without me."
The scientists consulted Genesis 2:7, which says, "the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
The scientists gleefully said, "Great! Let's get to work." And they picked up some dust to start the process.
"Hold on just a minute," said God. "You have to create your OWN dust."
The story points out how narrowly we view the intricacies of creation and how easily we sell God short.
We are not just pumped out on an assembly line. God knows each of us in the womb. He knows who we will become, what we will do and how we will fit into His kingdom.
Look at Psalms 139:13-15: "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth."
It is written in Matthew 10:28-30 that God knows when even a sparrow falls and has numbered every hair on our heads.
When we consider the ethics of human cloning, we don't even pretend to have a purpose for the individual we would create, beyond using this creation to supply body parts or an attempt to "immortalize" some genetic line out in our misplaced arrogance.
We already know the path to true immortality. It is spelled out in Romans 2:6-8: "God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger."
John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
