Monday, August 9, 2010

Care for some hypocrisy with your inaccuracy?

Boy, a lot wrong with today's missive from the Cathloholic News Service:

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1003136.htm

The basic position of the church, as expressed by a high ranking wizard, is that using small collections of cells from in vitro fertilization produces for research is the same as "the sacrifice of human beings." Quick, someone tell God! Not even counting all the real humans he manages to kill every year, but God is one avid abortionist. Every time God causes a spontaneous abortion, do we say he is making human sacrifices? We probably should. And God isn't even using the cells for anything, that prick! In contrast, scientists are using little blobs of cells from petrie dishes to help people walk again. Seems different to me. Of course, I am not of the mind that making people walk again should remain the exclusive purview of faith healers and Jesus. I often find myself trusting the evidence-based assertions of those damn dirty scientists, even if they are heathens.

Also from the article, stem cells are described as "totipotent," and that such cells "tend to reproduce a whole organism or individual, but not specialized cells." I'm not sure what biology class the author failed, but last time I checked, the whole organism is made of specialized tissues. It is theoretically possible for stem cells to make cells that have the characteristics of a given tissue- that is what totipotent means. However, reproduction of a whole organism or individual (whatever that means) is not something the cell does on its own- rather, it requires a complex environment- like being in a womb, or complex treatment with a variety of growth factors. These little cell blobs aren't sitting in a dish of kool-aid slowly turning into human beings. Only a retard, or a religious dummy, would think that is how stem cells work*.

* Before any one of our grand total of 3 readers calls me out, I know this last part is a "straw-man." However, by calling it a "straw man," that makes you a sexist. It's "straw-person." Now how do you feel, you oppressive tyrant?!

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