English 10 4A Quarter 1 Essay
Prompt #2 Cloning Catastrophe
One me, two me, four me, ten me! In Brave New World, cloning has reached a new level. This dystopian society has accepted the wide-spread use of cloning, but will the American society be just as accepting? In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley introduced the concept of human cloning through the Bokanovsky’s Process. This would never be accepted in the American society because of government regulations, religious views, and media perception. The issue of human cloning may violate moral or human rights as well.
The societies today are strongly linked to the government system. If the government says no to cloning, so do the majority of the people. Many people in the government are opposed to cloning. In 1997, former president Bill Clinton proposed a moratorium on cloning for 5 years. This “suggests that no Federal funds be allocated for human cloning” (Human Cloning, Legislation). Bills have been proposed in the house and senate, banning reproductive human cloning and/or any attempt to clone, but have not been followed through. Since federal government has not yet passed any clear laws pertaining biotechnologies, 15 states have legislated their own ones. The majority of these states prohibit reproductive cloning and charge large fines and/or jail time, upon violation. Others have decided to not fund related research. Issues pertaining to human cloning are still in discussion and laws related to it will soon be made. According to these facts, the government is not in favor of human cloning and will punish the ones who try to go against them.
America is a melting pot of different cultures and religions. Everyone has a say in what goes on in the society. Cloning is, by many people, considered “playing god”. This is because, in the Bible, Isaiah says that “I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.” (Bible, Isaiah 45:12). In the Gita, it says that “Although I am the maintainer of all living entities, and although I am everywhere, still My Self is the very source of creation” (Gita, Chapter 9 Verse 5) and “The whole cosmic order is under Me. By My will it is manifested again and again, and by My will it is annihilated at the end” (Gita, Chapter 9 Verse 8). These statements say that God is the one and only creator of mankind and all other things in the universe. People with strong religious beliefs refer to statements such as these to defend their argument that cloning is a means of “playing God” and challenging his position as “the creator”, and therefore, should be banned. While everyone may not be extremely religious in the American society, many are, and will never accept human cloning. The media affects the society and its people in many ways. It influences how people perceive information as well as their opinions and thoughts. People only see what the media wants and/or chooses to show them. The media today does not portray human cloning as a positive action. In the majority of movies involving human cloning, the clone has a negative role through out. The clone is usually evil while the original person is the “good guy”. At the end of the movie, the clone is most likely killed or sent to jail. In these movies, clones are treated as inhumane creatures who fail to “reach human perfection” (Cloning in the Media and Popular Culture). The laboratories and scientists that create these clones have a negative connotation as well. An example of such a movie is “Frankenstein’s Children”. Till date, there has never been a movie produced that portrays the clone as the hero and the original person as the villain. All of these negatives associated with human clones in the film industry shows that the media does not approve of human cloning. If the media portrays cloning negatively,
