CLC eyes next round of cloning battle
JEFFERSON CITY—The Christian Life Commission (CLC) of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) is encouraging Missouri Baptists to support the efforts of Missourians Against Human Cloning (MAHC) through prayer, verbal encouragement, letters, volunteering, and providing financial assistance.
Commissioners passed a resolution that was released for publication July 17 in anticipation of another statewide ballot initiative in 2008 in response to the 2006 passage of Amendment 2, which promotes the spread of embryonic stem cell research.
“Last fall, we discovered that coalition efforts worked,” said CLC Chairman Rodney Albert. “Through the organized efforts of Missourians Against Human Cloning, grassroots citizens nearly defeated a $30 million buyoff by the Stowers Institute.
“We can either shrug our shoulders with a defeatist attitude that we lost the vote, or we can get energized for Round Two and purpose that this state will not have legalized cloning.”
Amendment 2 passed with 51.2 percent of the vote, but Albert and other leaders are encouraged that 1,028,495 Missourians, or 48.8 percent, voted against the initiative. Survey data indicated that many Missourians voted in favor of Amendment 2 under the mistaken belief that they were voting for a total ban on human cloning, the CLC press release stated.
Because the efforts of MAHC www.nocloning.org are consistent with a biblical and Baptist understanding of the nature of humanity and the sanctity of human life, CLC commissioners feel the organization ought to be supported through the local church budgeting process, discretionary pastoral spending or individual contributions.
Amendment 2 authorized the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) with human cells in Missouri, with supporters of the amendment falsely characterizing it as a ban on human cloning by inaccurately defining cloning. It is important for Missouri Baptists to note that the CLC is on record stating that Missouri should provide neither a safe haven nor public funding for human cloning, and that Missouri Baptist churches have a duty to speak the truth to the public concerning this issue.
The goal of any ballot box initiative in 2008 is to correct the language contained in Amendment 2 to prohibit any form of human cloning, according to the CLC resolution.
“We are determined to make human cloning illegal in Missouri,” Albert said.