February 17, 2003
TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
Affirm dignity of human life
___I appreciate David Gushee's commentary on human cloning (Feb. 3).
___His argument that a cloned human's genetic ancestry could overshadow the younger person's identity is compelling. The commercialization of reproduction is a serious issue, and successful cloning procedures would only add to the problems extant in "more natural" scientific methods
of procreation.
___I also fear for the future of human clones in global society. As people "created" by humans and not through natural processes, humans that have been cloned may one day be seen as second-class beings, slaves specifically fashioned and intended for distasteful and dangerous labor, including warfare and prostitution.
___Even though it sounds sci-fi, the fact that it has already been envisioned by authors and screenwriters only increases the chance that some amoral society of the future will implement the practice, the remoteness of this possibility in our present generation notwithstanding.
___The countries of the world need to do more than simply ban human cloning, especially now that Clonaid and the Raelians claim to have already done it and others claim to be working on it. Governments must now act to extend the same inalienable rights that both naturally and artificially conceived humans possess to cloned humans.
___The church in America needs to press for this from our own government and ensure that we affirm the dignity of human life, no matter how God allows his image to be reproduced.
___
John King
___
Waco
Ensure justice in community
___How long will Texas Baptists put up with a Christian Life Commission that does not represent our beliefs? They opposed prayer at football games (Santa Fe vs. John Doe), and now they betray murder victims by opposing capital punishment (Jan. 20).
___Their report takes the position that human life is sacred and of ultimate value (unless you happen to be a murder victim; then you don't count). But it ignores the whole book of Joshua, where God judged the Canaanites and ordered them executed. God seems to feel there are some things more sacred and more important than human life, and there are some actions so heinous they demand the extermination of the offender.
___They also miss the two-tiered ethic established in Exodus. The family of the victim gives up their rights to revenge and vengeance, with the understanding that they will be given justice by the community. Then the community is charged with ensuring that justice is done. God did not consider the community's actions to be state-sponsored murder or even revenge. Because the community was engaged in making human life truly "holy and sacred" in the only way it can be made thus--by obedience to God's commandment to take a "life for a life." When only the life of the murderer is valued, there is no justice.
___The CLC continues to embarrass Texas Baptists. How long will we continue to employ men who oppose all that we believe in?
___
Dale Osteen
___
Buffalo
Maintain Baptist heritage
___First, I'd like to add a fourth reason to your editorial in support of the death penalty moratorium (Jan. 20). I wish I could claim ownership of this reason, but in the words of Will Campbell, "The death penalty is just plain tacky."
___Second, I applaud your effort and the action taken by the Standard in printing an opposing view. Not only was publishing Toby Druin's conflicting opinion quality journalism, it was the best of our Baptist heritage in practice.
___
Dan Pryor
___
Dallas
Live & speak truth in love
___Churches and church staffs have tried to follow the CEO business model of developing growing churches.
___While God's work should be handled with businesslike seriousness and accountability, we are beginning to see what the business world has now discovered. The CEO mentality apart from character, competence and chemistry is doomed to fail.
___How many church leaders wake up only to find it is too late; they or others in their churches have positions of leadership without any real possession of leadership?
___In "Leadership, Not Salesmanship," Steve Morrow hits the mark when he points out that the original leadership development principles of Christ through the Sermon on the Mount are still the only way to go. Being comes before doing if it is to have any eternal substance.
___People today are looking for real and authentic models of bold and godly leadership, not slick copied models of salesmanship that have failed even government and corporate America. It is time for all leaders to live and speak the truth in love.
___
Stan Sullinger
___
Garland
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