Here's one of my articles that was published in our national newspaper, The New Zealand Herald:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10447618
Monday June 25, 2007
Johann Hari, in his article “Believers stonewall life-saving science”, claims that science and religion are based on fundamentally contrasting ways of understanding our world.
How is this so when a United States survey in 1914 found that 42 per cent of US scientists believed in a personal God. And when 80 years later the same questions were posed to US scientists, 39 per cent said they believed in a personal God.
We should not forget the many Christian scientists who have helped shape history. While you surf the net, recall that John von Neumann, a Jewish man who converted to Catholicism, is responsible for the modern computer. When you next go to the doctor take the time to think of Louis Pasteur for discovering the germ theory.
When you next gaze at the stars, remember that Father Nicolaus Copernicus is responsible for discovering the sun-centred model of the universe. These Catholics have contributed greatly.
Hari says that faith in divine revelation is based on hallucination. But how can anyone deny the personal experience of millions who have experienced an encounter with their God when prayers are answered, whether through cures or by finding strength to cope with spirit-breaking situations?
The church is not against “life-saving science”. It is only when it conflicts with the dignity of the person - including the most defenceless of society, the unborn - that the church speaks against a particular aspect of science.
Hari’s support of embryonic stem-cell research over that of adult stem cell research defies what he calls science’s strict empirical observation of the world. But the benefits of embryonic stem-cell research, if any, are temporary. They are known for causing tumours and the immune system can reject them. But adult stem-cell research breakthroughs are spectacular and lasting, including treatment for cancer, auto-immune diseases, and brain degenerative diseases.
Their main use is in regenerative medicine. Stem cells can assist tissues, muscles and even organs to recover from diseases; and help non-healthy cells to recover or even supply desperately needed cells.
Stem cells can come from various parts of the body, including bone marrow, hair follicles, umbilical cord blood, placentas and amniotic fluid. In fact, bone marrow transplants have been happening for 40 years.
In the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers published their findings that the stem cells in fat can be cultured into muscle for organ repair.
A disadvantage of adult stem cells is that, unlike embryonic stem cells, they were not totipotent - they lacked the ability to become any type of cell if properly prepared.
However, especially with bone marrow cells, the potential for cultivating adult stem cells is narrowing this gap and some researchers are beginning to claim the same flexibility of adult stem cells.
Hari claims that Yale University scientists have been able to use human neural stem cells to make primates with severe Parkinson’s disease walk and eat unaided. But he does not tell us that these are in fact adult stem cells.
Hollywood actors have been in the forefront of the battle for embryonic stem-cell research, but it is adult stem-cell research that has produced the really impressive results.
Dr Steven Gill, of the Sussex Centre for Genome Damage and Stability, used stem cells in a trial to treat the brains of five Parkinson’s patients. After one year there was a 61 per cent increase in the activities on a “daily living” score.
Hari says embryonic stem-cell research is less costly and gets faster results. Why does money become a such a factor in the debate? Do not the results produced outweigh the cost factor rather than pouring money into what may be a morally questionable practice?
Why is there such a deafening clamour for government money to go into the funding of embryonic stem-cell research? Does the answer reside in the embryonic stem-cell breakthroughs being able to be patented, as opposed to adult stem cells?
It has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that adult stem cells are helping thousands of patients suffering from about 80 different diseases. In contrast, no lasting benefit has yet been reached with embryonic stem cells.
It is a bold and wise decision to limit federal funding on embryonic stem-cell research. It is time to put the energy into harnessing the superb potential of adult stem cells.
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Why Should I Forgive?
“Why should I forgive?” you may be pondering and pouting simultaneously. There are several reasons why one should do so. They range from the Christian with Christ calling us to forgive our neighbour to the mere secular which I will mention later.
There are several indicators to look for to see whether you truly need to forgive someone. They include:
When you think of the person do you feel anger, bitterness, a tightness of your stomach, a squeeze on your heart or even hatred?Do you find it difficult to trust someone who is like that person in their looks, their sex e.g male or female, or profession or even nationality?Do you constantly think about that situation?Can you pray for the person?
If most of these relate to you then you will need to forgive. Yes it is hard. Bloody hard! But remember Christ was bloody for you! He bled almost every drop of his blood for you. He loves you so much.
When we pray the Our Father prayer we pray “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us” It does not say “as we forgive those who ask us for forgiveness”. There is a reason for this. One it takes a greater person to forgive than it does to hold onto hatred and bitterness. What did Christ say on the cross? He said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do?” Forgive them! Wow! Christ asked God to forgive even those who caused Him so much unbearable pain! Pain we can only imagine!
Let me share with you an analogy which came to me when tidying my room, lol! I feel God is calling me to leave my country and so I decided to get rid of old things including clothes. I realised that we buy new clothes but still hang onto the old, even those that we have not worn for years. Now relate that to God giving us blessings. He blesses us with new things and yet we still want to hold onto the past. Can we receive the new blessings if we are still clutching desperately to the past? Take your hand and clench it now! If you have longish fingernails it will hurt! That’s another analogy for holding onto the past!
When one holds onto unforgiveness the person who hurt you in the first place still has power over you! Yes, because this unforgiveness translates into other areas of our life. We look with suspicion on others (I’m not saying we should be a doormat though) and even our relationships be shaky as a result. Yes it is hard to forgive! That is why I think the truest way we can forgive is only through the Cross of Christ. We must lay that unforgiveness and hurt at the foot of the Cross. If you are Catholic then you can do this through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The priest is acting in the person of Christ – not acting in the sense of make believe but in a spiritual way he is Christ. Therefore the priest does not absolve you from your sins but Christ does! WOW!
True freedom comes from forgiving through Christ. I know this. I was beaten up at school physically and psychologically (I even wrote a book about it and overcoming the fear of rejection see www.kiwig.com and www.godfact.com) If you do not forgive then you give the person who has hurt you the power to keep hurting you though you may not see it tangibly. When one reflects that every time we commit a mortal sin (serious sin with full knowledge and fully consent on our part) then we are treating God the same or similar to that situation in which we were hurt. So let us forgive. Let us be humble and forgive and focus on the new blessings God has for us!
God bless
Brendan Roberts
www.godfact.com
There are several indicators to look for to see whether you truly need to forgive someone. They include:
When you think of the person do you feel anger, bitterness, a tightness of your stomach, a squeeze on your heart or even hatred?Do you find it difficult to trust someone who is like that person in their looks, their sex e.g male or female, or profession or even nationality?Do you constantly think about that situation?Can you pray for the person?
If most of these relate to you then you will need to forgive. Yes it is hard. Bloody hard! But remember Christ was bloody for you! He bled almost every drop of his blood for you. He loves you so much.
When we pray the Our Father prayer we pray “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us” It does not say “as we forgive those who ask us for forgiveness”. There is a reason for this. One it takes a greater person to forgive than it does to hold onto hatred and bitterness. What did Christ say on the cross? He said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do?” Forgive them! Wow! Christ asked God to forgive even those who caused Him so much unbearable pain! Pain we can only imagine!
Let me share with you an analogy which came to me when tidying my room, lol! I feel God is calling me to leave my country and so I decided to get rid of old things including clothes. I realised that we buy new clothes but still hang onto the old, even those that we have not worn for years. Now relate that to God giving us blessings. He blesses us with new things and yet we still want to hold onto the past. Can we receive the new blessings if we are still clutching desperately to the past? Take your hand and clench it now! If you have longish fingernails it will hurt! That’s another analogy for holding onto the past!
When one holds onto unforgiveness the person who hurt you in the first place still has power over you! Yes, because this unforgiveness translates into other areas of our life. We look with suspicion on others (I’m not saying we should be a doormat though) and even our relationships be shaky as a result. Yes it is hard to forgive! That is why I think the truest way we can forgive is only through the Cross of Christ. We must lay that unforgiveness and hurt at the foot of the Cross. If you are Catholic then you can do this through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The priest is acting in the person of Christ – not acting in the sense of make believe but in a spiritual way he is Christ. Therefore the priest does not absolve you from your sins but Christ does! WOW!
True freedom comes from forgiving through Christ. I know this. I was beaten up at school physically and psychologically (I even wrote a book about it and overcoming the fear of rejection see www.kiwig.com and www.godfact.com) If you do not forgive then you give the person who has hurt you the power to keep hurting you though you may not see it tangibly. When one reflects that every time we commit a mortal sin (serious sin with full knowledge and fully consent on our part) then we are treating God the same or similar to that situation in which we were hurt. So let us forgive. Let us be humble and forgive and focus on the new blessings God has for us!
God bless
Brendan Roberts
www.godfact.com
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Some Good News
bHere's my first blog for the site. You can view some of my writing on http://hubpages.com/tag/brendan+roberts/hot and some on www.godfact.comI received a great blessing today! I received an order for my first two books - see www.godfact.com. It was sent to my postal address so the hard work of getting out there is paying off - as well as keeping the prayers going and having people pray for me too. I'm sure having such a discount of my books in honour of Our Lady is also making an impact too.I'll try to blog more through comments in the future. Please feel free to rejoice with me and comment too. Oh and check out some vids of me on www.gloria.tv - just search for Brendan Roberts.God bless, Brendan
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