The Great Debate - Live In London, UK 7/24/11

[Spoken Intro]
"A Gallup snapshot poll taken immediately after President Bush's speech on funding embryonic stem cell research last night shows that half of Americans approve of his decision, 25% do not, and still another 25% aren't sure what to think."
"Most people don't even know what stem cells are."
"Who is going to scream the loudest? Will it be the right-to-lifers or will it be the scientists? And now what's going to happen is that there will be a tremendous amount of lobbying in Washington, D.C.: scientists, entertainers, people who want to see this research - will be coming forth."
"I am concerned about it. Christopher Reeve is concerned about it. Everyone is concerned about it. The big question is do the ends justify the means? When we talk about research, yes, we can cure a lot of things...speculatively. But, where is the proof?"
"These developing human beings that you are talking about, these embryos were produced in an artificial, scientific environment. In vitro fertilization is not God's will."
"That doesn't make them any less human, though, after that happens."
"We are on a road where we really don't know where we are going as far as what's next. We are talking about harvesting embryos. We are talking about this, we are talking about that, but what is the cost?"
"How could we possibly abandon the research?"
"That is right. That is the old question. If you think the research is good, then you may not have a problem with it. It is only if you think the research is questionable that you get defensive about it. (you do have time to research these embryos later if we choose to do so. While people are suffering, we are not truly certain that this will provide a cure.)"
"And there was a great outrage in the conservative churches... You cannot use developing humans... At that point in time they turn into humans."
"I feel that abandoning this research could be a mistake. Researching this may allow us to save other lives or at least to improve the quality of lives."
"We do not have the answers, yet. We need to put the money where we will get those answers in the future. Listen, we are out of time."

[Verse 1]
What if someone said:
"Promise lies ahead"
"Hopes are high in certain scientific circles"
"Life won't have to end"
"You could walk again"

What if someone said:
"Problems lie ahead"
"They've uncovered something highly controversial"
"The right to life is strong"
"Can't you see it's wrong?"

[Chorus 1]
Humankind has reached a turning point
Poised for conflict at ground zero ready for a war
Do we look to our unearthly guide?
Or to white coat heroes searching for a cure?
Turn to the light
Don't be frightened of the shadows it creates
Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake

[Verse 2]
Anarchistic moral vision, industries of death
Facing violent opposition, unmolested breath
Ethic inquisitions breed antagonistic views
Right wing sound bite premonitions, a labyrinth of rules

[Chorus 2]
Are you justified
Are you justified
Are you justified
Justified in taking
Life to save life?
Life to save life?
Life to save life?

[Verse 2]
This embryonic clay
Wrapped in fierce debate
Would be thrown away or otherwise discarded
Some of us believe
It may hold the key
To treatment of disease and secrets highly guarded

[Chorus 2]
Are you justified
Are you justified
Are you justified
Justified in taking
Life to save life?
Life to save life?
Life to save life?

[Chorus 1]
Humankind has reached a turning point
Poised for conflict at ground zero ready for a war
Do we look to our unearthly guide?
Or to white coat heroes searching for a cure?
Turn to the light
Don't be frightened of the shadows it creates
Turn to the light
Turning away would be a terrible mistake
We're reaching, but have we gone too far?

[Instrumental Break]

[Bridge]
Harvesting existence only to destroy
Carelessly together, we are sliding
Someone else's future four days frozen still
Someone else's fate we are deciding
Miracle potential, sanctity of life
Faced against each other, we're divided
Should we push the boundaries? Or should we condemn?
Moral guilt and science have collided

[Outro Chorus]
Turn to the light
We defy our own mortality these days
Turn to the light
Pay attention to the questions we have raised

[Keyboard Solo]

[Guitar Solo]

[Spoken Outro]
"One of the big questions that still remains for me, though, is that all of these embryos that are sent or will be discarded - is this worse than just throwing those away?"
"You do not know that all of these will be discarded. All of a sudden you say which ones will be discarded. And all of sudden you have people being solicited for parts of their anatomy. Then they harvest parts of people's bodies. That is how it starts."
"People are not soliciting; there are fertility clinics that have extra embryos."
"The research is a scientific advancement. I know we are going down a road that we may not know where we end, but that is exactly what science is all about. I am very sorry, but I do feel sympathy for those whose spines have been severed... There is a possibility that we might cure them. I am concerned about a cure for juvenile diabetes and if these types of scientific advancement can cure these diseases, then quite candidly I think there ought to be at least what President Bush has proposed: some limited research."
"Stem cells come from developing human beings and they shouldn't be experimented on that doesn't make sense or that is unethical, but at the same time there is great promise."
"I have a 28-year old son who is paraplegic. And if there is a small chance that my son can be able to have feeling and be able to walk then I am for it."
"Human beings have been evolving for tens of thousands of years and we are just injecting cells from embryos into people's brains. How do we come to do something like that?"