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http://www.pfaith.org/index.htm
People of faith speak in support of stem
cell research [August 2004]
People of Faith for Stem Cell
Research
Petition to President Bush
Dear Colleagues,
We
are writing to you to ask for your support of a new petition campaign,
"People of Faith for Stem Cell Research."
This petition continues an effort that began three years ago. Lisa and Jack
Reed Jr. belong to the First United Methodist Church in Tupelo, Mississippi,
and their son Jack Reed III has juvenile diabetes. In 1991, they joined 104
other families from Mississippi and Alabama in writing a letter from "people
of faith" to President Bush, asking that he expand the current federal
policy on embryonic stem cell research.
Encouraged by the recent support given to this cause by the Reagan family
and by appeals to President Bush signed by 58 U.S. Senators and 206
Representatives, that letter has evolved into a website and online petition
in support of this research. Please visit
http://www.pfaith.org/,
where you will find additional information about this grassroots effort from
America's religious communities.
Almost
all scientists who work in the domain of biomedical research, along with
professional organizations such as the National Academy of Sciences, favor
embryonic stem cell research. They recognize that it may lead to the
development of effective remedies for devastating diseases.
Religion,
however, is often represented as standing in opposition to this research.
This generalization isn't accurate -- there is no single religious
perspective that represents the voice of religious/ethical conscience in
relation to embryonic stem cell research. Rather, in the ongoing ethical
discussions about this research, we perceive multiple voices and different
understandings about when human life begins, about the proper scope and aims
of biomedicine, and about our moral obligations to one another and to future
generations.
Many of
our faith traditions teach an obligation to pursue research that promotes
healing and diminishes suffering. In keeping with these traditions, we
believe that embryonic stem cell research is a legitimate domain of inquiry
and is consistent with the principle of full respect for human life. At the
same time, however, we respect the views of those of you who regard
blastocysts as fully ensouled humans with full ethical status.
We ask that you consider joining us in
signing the "People of Faith for Stem Cell Research" petition online, at
http://www.pfaith.org/.
If you
are professionally involved with religious studies or practices, please
consider as well being listed on the Endorsers' page of the campaign website
(www.pfaith.org/endorsers.htm).
Endorsement entails only that you agree with the petition and with the aim
of this grassroots campaign, which is to communicate to the President and to
the American public our request that the current federal funding restriction
on stem cell research be lifted. If you
are willing to be listed as an endorser, reply to
Steve Meyer
or simply
reply to this message, including your degrees, titles, and institutional
affiliations.
(Each endorser speaks in his or her own name only.
Institutions will be listed only for the purpose of identification.)
Please pass this message along to others who
may be interested in this petition campaign.
Thank you
for your attention to this matter.
(This
letter expresses the signers' personal views. Institutional affiliations are
given below only for the purpose of identification.)
Mark Y.
A. Davies, M.Div., Ph.D., Dean and Associate Professor of Social Ethics,
Wimberly School of Religion and Graduate Theological Center, Oklahoma City
University, Oklahoma City Oklahoma
Rabbi
Elliot Dorff, Rector and Professor of Philosophy, University of Judaism;
Vice-Chair of the Conservative Movement's Committee on Jewish Law and
Standards; Los Angeles California
Nancy J.
Duff, Ph.D., Professor of Christian Ethics, Princeton Theological Seminary,
Princeton New Jersey.
Norman
Gottwald, M.Div., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, New York Theological Seminary,
New York New York
Suzanne
Holland, Ph.D., Associate Professsor of Religious and Social Ethics, Chair
of the Department of Religion, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma Washington
Frances
Kissling, President, Catholics for a Free Choice, Washington DC
Rev.
Karen Lebacqz, Ph.D., Robert Gordon Sproul Professor Emeritus, Pacific
School of Religion, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley California
Steve
Meyer, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, formerly Chairman of the Board of Lay
Ministry; Co-Director, Stem Cell Action Network, Chattanooga Tennessee
Thomas W.
Ogletree, Ordained, United Methodist Church, New York Annual Conference;
Professor of Theological Ethics at Yale University Divinity School, New
Haven Connecticut
Richard
Penaskovic, Ph.D., Professor of Religious Studies, Auburn University, Auburn
Alabama
Jack and
Lisa Reed Jr., United Methodists, Tupelo Mississippi
Reverend
Tarris D. Rosell, D.Min., Ph.D., Program Associate, Center for Practical
Bioethics; Professor, Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City,
Kansas
Claude
Welch, M.Div., Ph.D., Dean Emeritus and Professor of Historical Theology,
Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley California
Ann K.
Wetherilt, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Emmanuel
College, Boston Massachusetts
Wesley J.
Wildman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics, Boston
University, Boston Massachusetts
Clark
Williamson, Professor of Christian Thought, Emeritus, Christian Theological
Seminary, Indianapolis Indiana
Liz
Wilson, Ph.D., Professor in Comparative Religion, Miami University, Oxford
Ohio
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