The Boston Globe truly outdoes itself today with this fawning piece on scientific freedom in Iran. Please take special note of how America’s religious conservatives come off poorly compared to the relatively enlightened religious people running Iran. The fact that the Iranian mullahs have serious theological debates about whether homosexuals should be thrown off buildings or buried alive seems to have escaped the Globe’s notice:
In the cutting-edge field of human embryonic stem-cell research, the scientists work with a freedom that US researchers can only dream of: broad government approval, including government funding, to work on the potent cells from early-stage embryos that researchers believe hold the promise to cure many diseases.
In 2002, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gave his blessing to research on surplus embryos created for fertility treatments -- work sharply restricted in the United States under pressure from religious conservatives -- calling it a ``lofty" effort that fit his goal of making Iran the scientific leader of the Muslim world.
The scientific ambitions that led Iran to embrace one of the world's most open policies on stem-cell research also help to explain why many Iranians support the nuclear research program that has thrust their country into a dangerous international confrontation.
You see, all this nuclear stuff and wiping Israel off the map is about scientific freedom. Reassuring, no?
Complaints? Compliments? Email me at Soxblog@aol.com.