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Article: Cloning inspires new talk about the soul.
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- March 28, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When talk in the news magazines turned earlier this month to the ethics of cloning -- not just sheep, but possibly human beings -- the compelling question for some journalists was the nature of "soul." The discussion found its way into millions of households through such unexpected vehicles as The New York Times and Time magazine.
Suddenly soul in the popular press was no longer an adjective modifying music or food. It was a noun again -- an ancient concept turning out in new dress. Perhaps soul -- the essence of the human person, that indefinable element that makes each of us unique and capable of transcendence -- is reducible to DNA. Maybe souls can be ...