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Pastor Tom Hawks
Senior Pastor Tom Hawks, of Glenn Park Christian Church for the last 30 years, was born in Wichita. He has lived here most of his life. He has been married to Ellen for 24 years. They have two children and three grandchildren. His favorite pastimes are spending time with his family, fishing and studying the Word of God. You may contact Pastor Hawks at (316) 943-4283.
Religion
2007-07-01 16:13:00
Is cloning wrong?
Our lunch group is composed of fellow employees (some Christians and some not) at one of our city’s manufacturing firms. We talk about every topic imaginable. The other day ‘cloning’ was brought up. Most of us who are Christians knew it was wrong, but when asked why, none of us could give any good reasons that the others would accept. I thought perhaps the forum of clerics you have might help.
Answer: I have given this question considerable thought and, as always, turned to the Word of God for insight and wisdom. In Genesis 11:1-9, we have the story of the Tower of Babel. God stopped mankind from building the tower because man’s imagination was taking him far from his created intent. He then continued their language and they were scattered. I think we might be there again, where nothing we can imagine is impossible for us to do. How far will God allow us to go in fooling with manipulating the genes of His own creation? I don’t know. I do think God will bring all this to a halt sooner or later. The question is where will you stand? How far will you think it’s O.K. to go? Consider these options… …create animals for medical research, clone the insulin gene, repair present nonreversible injuries (spinal cord, liver), ability to regrow fingers, toes, arms and legs. Help infertile couples create offspring without worry of bad genes. Sounds great, who would want to keep this benefit from mankind? But how far do you go? Would you improve the human race? By whose standards? Create an entire group of clones, developed for certain jobs or tasks? Clone spare parts of yourself? Recreate those who have died? Do we have the character to manage all this properly? Given our fallen nature (Genesis 3:1-24) I don’t think so. Do the potentials outweigh the dangers if it is abused? Can we trust scientists to make correct moral decisions? I don’t believe so, because our moral rudder is not our faith, belief, or trust in God. The driving motivation will be money, not ethics, or morality. Let me give these thoughts ~ 1. We are created in the Image of God…not cogs in some social engineering idea. We are not created to be manipulated and used as pawns in someone’s social design, but created to Worship & Serve a living God. 2. The problem is on te inside…manipulating genes will only make us smarter, taller, and better looking “sinners”! 3. Not all change is progress… Genesis 11 makes that clear. 4. Cloning does not create eternal life…ultimately, our hope is not in technology, however advanced and sophisticated, but in Jesus Christ (Col. 1:27). I want to look, think, feel and act like Jesus…Someday I will (1 John 3:2).
 
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