Readers of this site tend to have their minds more or less made up before coming here -- which, indeed, is what makes it imperative that the two sides focus on the things they have in common, rather than beating one another up about their differences.

A good place to start -- the most basic of "things they have in common" -- are the simple facts of stem cell research. Figure out and agree on what we're talking about, and then maybe (maybe) we can begin to draw up guidelines about what to do with the facts. All of this is one reason why I especially appreciated a recent post by Catherine Morgan, of the BlogHer site: "What You Might Not Know About Stem Cell Research."

Now, Ms. Morgan certainly has an opinion on many of the questions at hand. Yet she's posted a 12-minute YouTube video dispassionately explaining stem cells in general, adult vs. embryonic stem cells, and so on. (You can watch the video here if you don't want to read her commentary.)

Labels: dialogue, embryo, embryonic, stem cell, YouTube

In addition to Time Magazine's Time 100, discussed briefly below, the magazine lists 12 individuals they call Power Givers for the broad reach of their philanthropy. One name on the list is certain to be familiar to readers of this blog -- Sir John Templeton. His Templeton Foundation grants more than $60 million a year for research into the sciences and religion.

Jack had hoped that the foundation would help fund a dialogue on The Beginning of Human Life, a crucial issue in both the stem cell and abortion debates, but no luck so far. We believe a non-profit needs to take up the cause and apply for a grant. Or a university might consider a dialogue between its religion faculty and academics from other disciplines such as the social sciences, medicine, etc. There are so many different ways of looking at this question, and the divide is often so wide between beliefs, that the need for dialogue is a no-brainer to us.

Read more about Sir John Templeton and the other Power Givers (including Angelina Jolie).

Labels: Angelina Jolie, beginning of human life, dialogue, John Templeton