“Stem cell” is a term not directly cited in any classical religious work. Yet, a VCU study links religious affiliation to views on stem cell research.
Conducted over a 15-day period, a recent VCU Life Sciences telephone survey of 1,000 adults indicates religious beliefs and opinions about embryonic stem cell research are connected.
“Sixty-eight percent of people who say that religion is not an important part of their life say they are in favor of embryonic stem cell research,” Pamela Lepley, director of University News Services, said in a press release.
The study found that support of stem cell research has decreased 4 percent from 2005 to 2006. The majority of the surveyed, 54 percent, supported the research, while 37 percent opposed it.
“Forty percent of people who say that religious beliefs provide a great deal of guidance for their day-to-day living are in favor of embryonic stem cell research,” the press release states.
Several theologians have weighed in on the stem cell research debate.
Lisa Sowle Cahill is a professor of theology at Boston College.
“The whole idea that the embryo is a person is really a philosophical idea more than a strictly religious one,” Cahill said. “The church even says that we don’t know that for sure philosophically, but we should give the embryo the benefit of the doubt and be especially protective of it.”
PBS NewsWeekly Web site reports the U.S. Roman Catholic Bishops oppose the research, calling it “immoral, illegal and unnecessary.” The bishops say life begins at conception, the Web site claims.
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations’ viewpoint is that “an isolated, fertilized egg does not enjoy the full status of personhood.”