Genetic engineers, move over: the latest scheme for creating children to a parent’s specifications requires no DNA tinkering, but merely giving mom a steroid while she’s pregnant, and presto—no chance that her daughters will be lesbians or (worse?) ‘uppity.’
Or so one might guess from the storm brewing over the prenatal use of that steroid, called dexamethasone. In February, bioethicist Alice Dreger of Northwestern University and two colleagues blew the whistle on the controversial practice of giving pregnant women dexamethasone to keep the female fetuses they are carrying from developing ambiguous genitalia. read more
While there is a need for bioethics watchdog centres such as The Hasting Center's Bioethics Forum, there is also a need to be careful while examining the evidence or the lack of it. Alice Dreger, Ellen K. Feder, Anne Tamar-Mattis (06/29/2010) posted Preventing Homosexuality (and Uppity Women) in the Womb? , the article which was picked up by Newsweek.
While everyone has been busy watching geneticists at the frontier of the brave new world, none of us seem to have noticed what some pediatricians are up to. Perhaps it is because so many people are fascinated by the idea of a “gay gene” that prenatal “lesbian hormones” have slipped past public scrutiny. In any case, we think Nimkarn and New’s “paradigm for prenatal diagnosis and treatment” suggests a reason why activists for gay and lesbian rights should be wary of believing that claims for the innateness of homosexuality will lead to liberation. Evidence that homosexual orientation is inborn could, instead, very well lead to new means of pathologization and prevention, as it seems to be in the case we’ve been tracking.
Needless to say, we do not think it reasonable or just to use medicine to try to prevent homosexual and bisexual orientations. Nor do we think it reasonable to use medicine to prevent uppity women, like the sort who might raise just these kinds of alarms. Consider that our declaration of our conflict of interest.
In his online Christianity Today's article "Did the Spirit really say..?" Mark Galli shares his thoughts about how to discover God's will in our decision making. The article is worth reading.
I've concluded that God often does not lose sleep over whether we guess his will correctly. If this were his highest priority, I think he'd be a lot clearer about making his will plain! A higher priority for him seems to be this: humble and contrite hearts that are willing to risk, to step into the unknown just because it might be God's will. He honors the heart as much as the execution.
The Mirror Universe opening title from Enterprise episodes "In a Mirror Darkly" Parts 1 and 2.
A combat video with TOS U.S.S. Defiant as seen on Star Trek Enterprise.
I enjoy these two episodes in the fourth and final season of the Star Trek: Enterprise television series. I really like the twist at the end of the story.
Here is a post about my preaching at First Baptist Church Kuching (reposted with permission). It is a privilege to share with them and it was wonderful to be received so warmly into their fellowship. Met some Facebook friends and also some old friends there. Thank you, First Baptist Church Kuching. Love the photos!
Last Sunday, our church had the honour of Dr.Alex Tang, medical doctor, author, famous blogger to share with us the above titled sermon.
Dr.Alex Tang worship at Holy Light Church, Johore. He is also a pediatrician working in Johore Specialist Centre.
His sermon referred mainly to Jeremiah 12:5
"If you have raced with men on foot and they worn you out how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?"
Basically, his message was to encourage us even as we stumbled. Do not give up, at least if we ran with men on foot we have started running. Do not give up easily. God will help us in our struggles if we turn to Him.
