A Moral Dilemma

As I was coming in to work this morning, I was listening to Tavis Smiley on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. Now I love Tavis because nothing is sexier that a well-educated man who knows what he's talking about. I've always found him to be interesting and well informed on a wealth of topics. He's always been able to educate me about things that I had no knowledge of previously. Today, he was talking about this whole filibuster thing and the choosing of judges.

This is a topic that has been of great interest to me, both as a minority and as a woman. Who is on teh supreme court has impact for my employment, health and everything else that is vital to my life and my liberty. For years the courts were fairly liberal and within the last few years have become exceedingly conservative. As we tackle the issues of abortion, stem cell research and a wealth of other controversial issues, I think that people should look closely at what is happening in the political arena because if you don't it will have deliterious effects on us all.

I had no idea that Bill Clinton had single handedly appointed more black judges than as Tavis said, Washington to George W combined. That was a hell of a comment. He then went on to comment about how many high ranking black church officials were getting into bed with the Rebpublican party. Now he wasn't saying that all people who looked the same (ie black folk) needed to be of the same political affiliation because clearly there were different strokes for different folks, he just wanted why it appeared that people who did not have our best interest at heart were so closely lining themselves up with us ... what was the gain.

In the last few years I've begun to realize that the fact that most black folk are so religious and god fearing has allowed us to be simplified and become pawns for those who have their own agendas. Now why have black folk aligned themself so closely with some republican issues. Quite simply they will tell you that it's on moral grounds. Now what are the moral issues that they are discussing, once again, quite simply is the gay issue. Black folk have taken to hating gay people and villifying them just as much as black folk were villified in the 19th and 20th century. It's almost as if they have a group to persecute as they were persecuted. The fact that they are waving the bible doesn't justify it either because when they were segreating the south and claiming that it was "separate but equal," they used the bible to justify that too.

So now let's move on to another moral issue that is sure to allow black folk to once again jump on the bandwagon...stem cell research. Now I must be honest and state that I'm really not quite sure what my opinion is because I haven't delved into the topic as much as I could have. But I do know this much, no-one is going ahead and creating embryos for the purposes of research. Because we have so many childless couples who have resorted to artificial methods to give birth and bring forth life, there is often an excess of embryos left over. There appear to be two choices, destroy the embryo after a period of time or use them for research purposes. One groups is stating that to utilize the embryo is essentially murder. What no-one has explained to me is what is to happen with the embryo that is currently frozen, is it to stay that way forever or will it eventually be destroyed?

My point is this, it appears that the embryos are going to be destroyed at some point. If that is the case, then that's murder. If the embroys are to be used for research purposes, then that's also murder. What then do we do? Because I respect a woman's choice to end a pregnancy (but please do it within the first 8 weeks), my opinions about a embryo/fetus tend to be skewed towards what makes me comfortable. Intellectually, I know that life begins once there is a fertlized egg, however, I do know that that life cannot sustain itself without its mother for quite a few months yet. So when I take all this and weigh the options, this is what I see.

A fetus or embryo cannot survive without a host. That host is a mother. The embryo's that are part of the stem cell controversy are currently frozen, created from an artificial process with no likelihood of ever having a host mother. Whichever way you take it, this embryo's cannot be classified as living since they can't survive without a host. If you take this logic then and know that you destroy them with nothing gained or you can use them and gain a wealth of information, then what's the harm. If my child dies and I choose to donate his organs, nobody thinks anything of it, I'm considered to be a wonderful person who has helped to prolong the life of so many; yet if I allow my unused embryo's to be used for reserach purposes, this is a major issue. Both are being used to prolong life so where's the issue?

So many of us will develop life threatening diseases in the years to come, we don't see it now because we are young and healthy, but our grandparents and our parents are dying from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, muscular and a whole wealth of illnesses that with stem cell research could be essentially eradicated. What are we to do, it's a huge moral dilemma. I just hope that everyone thinks long and hard about this and then make a decision that your conscience can live with.