Group assesment.
​RELIGIONS, SPIRITUALITIES, AND ETHIC IN EUROPE TODAY.
the ethical issue: CLONING
the religious traditions:
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
THE RAELIAN MOVEMENT
the country: FRANCE
Secular France?
Since the revolution France has been considered a secular state, but since the publication of the Guyard report of 1995, this has been called into question. In this report the commission identified 173 new religious movements which they labeled as cults or sects. These groups were seen to be a danger to French society and were described as groups which were targeting vulnerable individuals.
WHAT is it all about
This website highlights the controversial and conflicting issues recently raised in a court room style presentation which looked at the sensitive ethical topic of human cloning. The focus of this website is to examine the Raëlian view of human cloning and the Roman Catholic’s response both of which are viewed from a French perspective. This shall be achieved through a brief introduction to religion in France, in particular the suppressive nature of France’s government, and through concise critical exploration of both the Raëlian and Roman Catholic approaches to the controversial issue of human cloning. The court case examined the differing stances on cloning by focusing on a fictitious scenario in which the loss of a grieving family (who in this scenario were Raëlian) led to a desire to pursue human cloning technologies in the hope of being reunited with Adrienne Belrose.
The KEY perspectives
There are three key viewpoints in this case which must be considerd; the pro-cloning argument as put forward by the Raelian movement, the anti-cloning theological standpoint represented by the Catholic church, and the legal position of cloning in the secular state of France.