Re: The Robert Johnson declaration

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> >Robert Johnson, amonst other things, writes;
> >
> >"We have a responsibility to speak for all life forms and to defend the
> >integrity of the natural order."
> >
Is HIV a "life form"? Certainly periodic epidemics play an important
role in the maintenance of the "natural order" by selecting against
individuals who lack a genetic (or cultural) immunity. One could make
good arguments that we are contravening the natural order by using
extraordinary measures to insure the survival of individuals whom
"nature" is making significant efforts to eliminate. Is the advancement
of medical science a threat to the integrity of a "natural order"? There
are a number of religious groups who believe that it is, and their
beliefs have directly and indirectly hindered research that would stem
the AIDS epidemic. It seems to me that Johnson's approach is not all
that different from one that assigns paramount importance to "God's will."

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