The Pope on Sunday condemned human cloning and made the odd argument that cloning and other efforts to improve human physiology represent human arrogance. According to Reuters,
The pope said medical research should not try to “manipulate” human beings “according to a project considered with arrogance better than that of the Creator himself.”
What a strange claim. It reminds me of a commonly proferred claim by creationists that evolution must be wrong because no mere blind, unguided process could lead to something as magnificent as the eye. The other side, of course, is that the eye — especially the human eye — is a pretty lousy piece of engineering if it is the direct result of divine design. It is, however, an interesting compromise between competing needs if considered as the result of natural selection.
So it’s a bit surprising to see the Pope invoking efforts to improve humans through cloning or genetic research as “a project considered with arrogance better than that of the Creator himself.” Well, maybe if He’d taken his time and done things right the first time, His creation would haven’t to spend so much time trying to produce better revisions.
Source:
Pope Condemns Human Cloning and Arrogance of Man. Reuters, August 22, 2004.