Persons…

What follows is an (edited) comment that I made in response Crapartist‘s recent post Embryonic Stem Cell (ES cell) myths dispelled. A Christian, Shay, responded to Crapartist, that Embyonic Stem-Cell researchers are hellbound.

I partially agree with Shay’s claim that ES cell research destroys humans… but my justification is completely different than hers. I consider myself and every other human being for that matter, to be a bag of cells that are consolidated in a particular structure, and nothing more, (ie. no spirit or any of that “BS” (to use one of shay’s terms)). Now granted, some cell bag structures, under the classification of human, function better than others (i.e Terry Shaivo) but all cell bags of significant structure likeness, are human.

So, by my definition, I argue that blastocysts from human embryos are human. Not walking, breathing, fucking adult humans mind you, but still human. Here’s why: they are a collection of cells, just fewer of them, conglomerated into a particular structure of sufficient likeness, that through time, will develop into an adult. Likeness to exactly what structure, you ask? Their structure likeness to other fertilized “cell bags” that are found in human female wombs at the same stage of development.

The process of manipulating embryos for stem-cell research disrupts the sturcture of the “cell bag” and terminates it’s natural development into maturity. This structure distortion for me, is was fucking duelists would call “destroying the body to release the spirit” or “death”. And before you call me heartless, consider that there exists much more scientific evidence supporting my definition of human than one that requires the existence of a human spirit in the make-up of a person.

If only I believed that hell exists, and that humans posses spirits that run the risk of going there; then I’d find Shay’s warnings justified. That is, by performing ES cell research, one would eventually have to answer to a higher power. And further, that it is in one’s own best interest not to do so.

[I actually do support embryonic stem-cell research, I just wanted to argue the seldom heard reducto-materialist perspective in regards to the makings of a person for this issue.]