CECNEWs Release:
Support of the Brownback-Landrieu Human Cloning
Prohibition Act
INTERNATIONAL OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS - THE CHARISMATIC
EPISCOPAL CHURCH
CONTACT: ARCHBISHOP RANDOLPH SLY (703) 404-0754 / abpsly@iccec.org
FOR RELEASE TO PRINT AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA: MAY 7, 2002
I am Randolph Sly, Archbishop of the Eastern Province of
the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church,
Board Member of CEC For Life, and Chairman of the Board for
Common Good. The Charismatic Episcopal Church, along CEC For
Life, the Pro-life expression of our church, places our full
support behind the passage of Senate Bill #1899, entitled
the "Brownback-Landrieu Human Cloning Prohibition Act."
In John Naisbitt's book High Tech/High Touch, Theologian
Dr. Donald Shriver is quoted as saying, "The power of scientific
curiosity, technological ambition, and economic profit are
together a very formidable power." This quote comes from the
chapter on genetic technology and bioethics. We are all here
today because of the truth of this quote.
That a debate over the viability of human cloning is even
taking place reveals that the boundaries of responsible inquiry
and morally legitimate experimentation have been moved. Citing
ambitious claims for health and healing which, according to
many reputable scientists and physicians, dwell within the
realm of science fiction, civil authority is now on the verge
of caving in on this issue.
Our unified presence here today is about more than just the
passage of a Senate bill. The actions of our nation in the
area of human cloning have implications far beyond our borders
and even our time in history. What we do now will have significant
implications for all of humanity in all future generations.
The horrors of the holocaust during World War II were not
only found in the ovens and gas chambers but also in the laboratories
of genetic experimentation. We decried that dehumanization
as a travesty, but now seem ready to enter into a sequel,
where those who have no voice will again become victims in
the quest for innovation.
As a communion, we continue to affirm current genetic research,
which is morally sound and has scientific integrity. We further
encourage the passage of this bill as a sign of the good faith
of this nation to preserve the inalienable rights of every
person from the time of conception. As Dr. Seuss states in
his children's classic Horton Hears A Who, "a person's
a person, no matter how small."
The Most Rev. Randolph Sly is the Archbishop of the Eastern
Province and the Diocese of the Potomac as well as serving
as Supervising Archbishop for the International Office of
Communications and as a board member for CEC For Life in the
International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church.
He is also rector of the Cathedral Church of the Transfiguration
in the Washington D.C. metroplex. In his thirty years of ministry,
he has become a popular speaker and published author on a
variety of topics including public policy, ethics and culture
from a Christian perspective. He was a contributor to the
chapter on genetics in John Naisbitt's book High Tech/High
Touch.
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