Madam, - I was surprised to find a question concerning religious belief on the Irish Council for Bioethics' survey on attitudes to stem cell research. The question, for my mind, can have only one function - to determine whether all those opposed to stem cell research in Ireland are religious believers, and whether all those in favour of it are supposed enlightened secularists. Does this mean that our opinions will be valued less because we are religious believers, or that scientists will place less store upon them?
The question supposes that religious belief is the fundamental determinant of a person's attitude towards embryonic research, once again threatening to pit science against religion, and vice-versa. But there are many ethical considerations that do not rely on religious premises for objecting to embryonic stem cell research.
The case for or against embryonic stem cell research depends upon when you consider human life to begin, at conception, at implantation, or when cognitive facilities begin to function. This judgment can be made by weighing the ethical implications of each of these definitions of the beginning (and conversely, end point) of human life. If, for example, we take cognitive functioning to be definitive of the value of human life, then a person in a persistent vegetative state ceases to have full moral status, and those with a lower capacity for thought deserve less moral status.
So there are common grounds for being opposed to embryonic stem cell research for believers and non-believers alike. Unfortunately, the question on religious belief threatens to make easy cannon fodder out of those of us who object to embryonic research. No doubt, our views will be readily dismissed by the anti-religious as "conservative", "unenlightened", and "unthinking". - Yours, etc, MICHAEL McGANN,
Carrickbrennan Lawn, Monkstown, Co Dublin.