Messing with Genes for a Good Cause

R. Albert Mohler Jr., the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky, opened up a can of worms. He said that if a gene is found that controls sexual orientation, he would support efforts to alter that gene inside the mother's womb, thereby changing a person from a homosexual to a heterosexual. He likened it to supporting "any appropriate means to avoid sexual temptation and the inevitable effects of sin."

So is he saying that homosexuality is genetically based? That that's how "God made me"? Such an admission will upset some Christians, who view homosexuality as changeable behavior. (Please, I'm not making any personal statement on the subject--just reporting what I read.)

But beyond that, it raises lots of ethical questions. What about doing other gene tampering with unborn fetuses--increasing intelligence, enhancing athletic ability, decreasing any disposition to violence? All kinds of possibilities arise. Since the avoidance of temptation is an issue, how about cutting the sex drive of all humans, regardless of sex or sexual orientation, while they are still in the womb?

The thing is, before I depart this earth, these issues will have gone beyond theory. People will actually have listings in the phone book as "Meddler in Human Genetics."

Posted on March 19, 2007 03:43 PM|

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