Of Fools and Insanity

I open with the following quote from G.K. Chesterton because it is pertinent to the topic of discussion that follows; “Take away the supernatural and what remains is the unnatural.”

Literary writers have proven themselves to be prophetic. Jules Verne’s “From the Earth to the Moon,” and George Orwell’s “1984,” have seen reality made from fiction with the successful landing of a man on the moon and modern day’s technology establishing an intrusive Big Government in place of Big Brother.

In one of H.G. Wells’ dystopian novels, a man is rescued at sea and brought to an island where he encounters a mad scientist who has spent 17 years creating “animals fused with human genes.” “The Island of Dr. Moreau” ends tragically with death abounding.

Recently the Government has proposed to put human cells in animal embryos. The National Institutes of Health has announced its support for expanded research into the development of chimeras, experimental genetic combinations of human beings and animals that, some experts say, may yield immense benefits in medical treatment and scientific knowledge.

The stated aim now is to fund research putting human cells into very early animal embryos, even nonhuman primates in some cases. This, NIH says, would allow new disease modeling, drug testing, and eventually the growth in animals of human organs that could be used for transplantation. The problematic aspect is that when added so early in development, the human cells could end up, well, anywhere in the developing animal. In the worst case, the human cells could end up in gonadal tissue and form human gametes (eggs or sperm) within the animal’s body. – So say David Prentice Ph.D and Chuck Donovan, from the Charlotte Lozier Institute.

Just because a man possesses the capability to do a thing does not mean that he must do it. In the Garden of Eden the Tree of Knowledge had low hanging fruit. We have found that simply because the fruit was so accessible, did not make picking it the wisest action. As G.K. Chesterton says: “Just because we are given a right to do a thing, does not mean we are right in doing it.”

Should permission be given to  the NIH to proceed in this experimentation we may very well find that it leads to a most horrendous end. For the road to hell we know is paved with good intentions. Irenaeus wrote in “Against Heresies”; “Thinking against nature, you will become foolish. And of you persist you will fall into insanity.”

So we are then left to ponder the following; Are our leaders simply foolish or hopelessly insane?