c. 1997 Religion News Service

Bioethics panel: no cloning of human persons

(RNS) President Clinton, responding to the weekend release of a report by scientists and ethicists, Monday (June 9) proposed legislation to ban human cloning but allow the continuation of research with potential medical benefits.”What the legislation will do is to reaffirm our most cherished beliefs about the miracle of human life and the God-given individuality each person possesses,”Clinton said at a White House ceremony at which he accepted the report of the National Bioethics Commission.”It (the legislation) will ensure that we do not fall prey to the temptation to replicate ourselves at the expense of those beliefs,”he added.

The commission’s report, released Saturday (June 7), was sparked by the news three months ago that Scottish researchers had successfully cloned a sheep, giving rise to fears that the cloning of humans may be on the horizon.

In its report, the commission urged debate over the moral and ethical issues involved in cloning.”These are all exceedingly difficult issues,”said panel chairman Harold Shapiro.”They are issues that go to the very nature of what it means to be human and to the very heart of what people think of as their families and individuality.” The bioethics panel also sought to draw a line between cloning full human beings and the possibility that cloning research could result in medical benefits, permitting the creation of human embryos that would not be implanted in a woman’s womb.

Critics, however, were unpersuaded.

Gracie Hsu, an analyst with the Family Research Council, accused the bioethics panel of avoiding the ethics issues involved in the cloning debate.

Hsu said the panel’s recommendation to allow human embryo research”is premised on the false assumption that human beings less than 14 days old are not completely human, thereby condoning the destruction of countless numbers of embryonic children for the sake of `research.'” Sen. Christopher Bond said the panel should have made the”moral statement”that”human cloning is wrong, period.” Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich., said he plans to introduce legislation that would not only ban cloning to create a human but also any human embryo research related to cloning.

Germany puts Scientology under nationwide surveillance

(RNS) Germany has put the controversial Church of Scientology under nationwide surveillance for one year, paving the way for the government to intercept mail, tap telephones and infiltrate organizations associated with the controversial movement.

The move, announced Friday (June 6), is the latest in an escalating confrontation between German federal and state officials and the church, which claims 30,000 members in Germany.

Officials charge Scientology with being more of a business than a religion and say it is intent on undermining democratic society. Scientologists claim they are being persecuted simply for holding different beliefs and say federal and state German officials are acting no better than did the Nazis.

In a statement Friday, the Church of Scientology International, the movement’s Los Angeles-based parent body, called the government’s action”Gestapo tactics.” The Rev. Heber Jentzch, president of the international church, added:”Germany is the only country in the world where it is government policy to systematically deny Scientologists fundamental human rights and ostracize them from society.” Although recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a religion in the United States, Scientology is not considered a bona-fide faith in Germany. Previous government actions have banned Scientologists from joining the major political parties and called for the entering of an”S”next to the listing of private businesses owned by Scientologists in government records.

German Interior Minister Manfred Kanther, in announcing the yearlong surveillance, said the move was undertaken to determine whether Scientology should be curbed as a group working against the nation’s constitution.

However, Kanther denied that surveillance amounted to persecution.”In Germany, there need be no fear of a witchhunt involving state bodies,”he said, according to the Reuter news agency.

Scientology appears to have little support in Germany. A recent poll found nearly 60 percent of Germans agreeing with the idea of keeping close tabs on Scientologists. Less than 10 percent were unequivocably against such a measure.

Catholic theologians rebuff Vatican ending debate on women’s ordination

(RNS) The Catholic Theological Society of America, the nation’s largest organization of Roman Catholic theologians, has urged that the contentious issue of women’s ordination continue to be debated despite a Vatican ruling that the question is closed.

Concluding a yearlong study of the issue, the society adopted an eight-page report challenging the teaching by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that the ban on women’s priest has been taught”infallibly.””There are serious doubts regarding the nature of the authority of this teaching (of the Congregation) and its grounds in (Catholic) Tradition,”the theologians said.”There is serious, widespread disagreement on this question not only among theologians, but also within the larger community of the church.” The theologians called for”further study, discussion and prayer regarding this (women’s ordination) question.” The statement, adopted by a vote of 216 to 22, with 10 abstentions took no position on the central question of whether women can become priests. Instead, it limited itself to challenging the conclusion of the Vatican body headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

In its 1995 statement, the Congregation said that because the teaching on women’s ordination had been”set forth infallibly,”it was beyond reconsideration and all discussion of the matter must end.

Supreme Court refuses to overturn ban on nativity, menorah

(RNS) The U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, Monday (June 9) refused to overturn lower court rulings barring city officials in Jersey City, N.J., from displaying a nativity scene and menorah in front of City Hall.

The American Civil Liberties Union had sued Jersey City in 1994 objecting to a creche display depicting the birth of Jesus and to a candelabrum symbolizing the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

The display included a sign that said it celebrated”the diverse cultural and ethnic heritages”of the city’s residents.

But the ACLU suit contended the city-owned display on city-property violated the constitutionally required separation of religion and government.

In a separate action Monday, the Supreme Court also turned back a challenge by abortion opponents to a federal law protecting access to abortion clinics.

The justices, again without comment, turned away an appeal by Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry and other protesters who said that Congress, exceeded its authority in enacting the law _ the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.

The law was prompted by a number of acts of violence directed at health clinics providing abortion as well as sharp confrontations between abortion opponents attempting to blockade clinics and supporters of abortion rights seeking to keep the entrances open.”We’re disappointed but not surprised at the Supreme Court action today,”said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, which had filed the suit on behalf of Terry.”Our concern all along has been that this law stifles free speech and legitimate peaceful protest,”Sekulow said.

Kenya’s churches tell government to reform or face consequences

(RNS) Church leaders in Kenya have issued an ultimatum to their country’s government, calling for constitutional reforms and an end to corruption.”We are appealing to the government to effect the desired changes before the elections”in November, the church leaders told a news conference.”We will continue to pray that this be done. But if all these fail, we will take other measures.” The church leaders, representing the National Council of Churches of Kenya, the country’s main ecumenical body, and the Kenya (Roman Catholic) Episcopal Conference, said the government of President Daniel arap Moi has”done little … to set the stage for free and fair elections later in the year.” Moi has been in power since 1978 and has come under increasing criticism in Kenya and abroad for his failure to implement political and constitutional reforms and for what critics label deep corruption.

But the church leaders did not spell out what they might do if Moi refuses to act on their ultimatum, Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency, said.

It is widely believed, however, that they may call for a boycott of November’s general election.

In addition to the church protest, the Supreme Council of Muslims of Kenya (Coast Branch) called for the formation of an independent electoral commission and the suspension of the laws giving the government massive power over opposition parties.

Quote of the day: Author Karen Armstrong

(RNS) Speaking in Washington recently, Karen Armstrong, author of”A History of God: The 4,000 Year Quest in Judaism, Christianity and Islam”and other books, addressed the belief of some Christians that Jesus’ promised Second Coming will coincide with the end of the millennium. She said:”As we approach the millennium, we should not be worrying about whether Jesus is coming or not, but whether we will have a vision of religious pluralism or religious sectarianism for the future.”

END RNS