Pride and Hell

So this member of parliament says to the cardinal 'I would rather go to hell than take orders on how to vote from the Cardinal.' Dramatic, no? Lots of cliches I can think of here, but that's not nearly as interesting nor as urgent as what is at the heart of such an outburst. With such a retort, this MP is not appealing to the matter at hand -- which is the ethics of creating human embryos in order to use them as raw material, resulting in their death. No, this statement is about authority and power. Government is ideally about public service, but I wonder how much concern the MP has for the female public who risk the onset of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome from the drugs that are used in the harvesting of egg cells. I wonder how much thought the MP has put into the question of where human life really begins. If he'd care to check with embryologists, he might get the surprise of his life. And does he spare any thought to the dismal track record of embryonic stem cell research with zero successful human treatments so far? Has he considered how this legislation sets back the funding opportunities for adult stem cell research, which is far more promising and has enjoyed more than 70 successful human treatments so far?

But no, this MP isn't about those things. This is about who's in charge. This is about bravado. And sadly, this is about pandering to the crowd, who can be so taken with the idea of standing up to the Church that they can't be bothered to think about the matter at hand.

So the MP would rather go to hell? Oh he's doing his share to get us there, alright. When human beings at their most vulnerable are seen as no more than spare parts? Oh he's getting there..