Correspondence

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Oct 16, 2000

Human Cloning and the Final War Against Human Dignity

There was no real debate on the issue of human cloning in "If Human Cloning Becomes a Reality, Should It Be a Legal Option" [Symposium, Sept. 25]. Gregory Pence took the I-want-it-now position and Michael A. Goldman took the let's-wait-a-bit, consumer-protection stance.

Pence took a haphazard stab at telling us where moral values come from: We make them up. This tells us something about his values, at least.

Goldman worried that we're moving too fast but, like Pence, did not address the fundamental objection to human cloning: the reduction of human life to a material process to be manipulated and exploited like any other object devoid of intrinsic worth.

C.S. Lewis attacked this view in his book The Abolition of Man and later in That Hideous Strength. In the latter book the National Institute for Coordinated Experimentation (NICE) prepares for the final war against human dignity, in the name of science. Human cloning is based on the belief that humans are no different, fundamentally, from sheep, and if we need to get rid of 10 or 10 million in the name of quality control, that's no problem--as long as it's not me.

David Lucas Manassas, Va.

Federal Government Lies Concerning Drug Statistics

Thank you for the article on the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) statistics ["Is the Drug Czar Skirting the Law?" Sept. 18]. This sort of article should be done by more media sources more often.

There is a long history of the federal narcotics officials adjusting their numbers to promote their own self-interests. You can find lots of examples in the research at www.druglibrary.org/schaffer listed under "Historical Research." Thanks again for a good piece.

Cliff Schaffer Director, DRCNet Online Library of Drug Policy Canyon Country, Calif.

The government's report that drug use among the young is down cannot be taken at face value. Only by the most intricate parsing of their data can the conclusions of this report be supported. Worse than the parsing is the statement that only 9 percent of teen-agers in 1999 used drugs sometime in the previous month. The actual figure was 10.9 percent. While this may not seem like much difference, consider that in 1998 it was 9.9 percent, a fact conveniently parsed out of the report. The ONDCP uses numbers not to educate but to persuade -- even to deceive.

John Chase Palm Harbor, Fla.

Lieberman's Religious Faith Means Little to the Media

In regard to "Media Finds Faith Is Fashionable" [The Last Word, Sept. 4], do you really think that with his selection of Sen. Joseph Lieberman -- an observant Jew who has a Gentile push the button for him when he votes in the Senate on the Sabbath -"the vice president may unwittingly have ensured that religious conviction no longer will be a stick to belabor those to the right of center"?

The thing to remember about Lieberman is that when he wrestles with his conscience before voting on social issues he usually wins. If he had voted against partial-birth abortion and special privileges for homosexuals, the media would be screaming about what a dangerous religious fanatic he was.

Don Schenk Allentown, Pa.

Reno Has Fallen Too Low to Feel Any Embarrassment

Regarding Jamie Dettmer's exclusive report to Insightmag.com ["Top International DOJ Officials Caught in Sweeping IG Probe!" Sept. 12], Attorney General Janet Reno embarrassed? You must be kidding! She has covered up and pimped for Clinton/ Gore for years. What's a little inspector-general report or even an indictment of her friends after that?

Jim Renner Mandeville, La.

Write: Insight, Correspondence Editor, 3600 New York Ave. N.E., Washington, DC 20002. E-mail: Insight@wt.infi.net. Fax: (202) 529-2484. Please include an address and daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for space.