Uh…gross.
Posted by Brian July 18, 2005
Animal-free meat?
Rick Bohannon pointed out these links on his blog:
An article discussing artifical meat production.
And a company that’s going to try it.
(A sort of unrelated side-note - Rick was also Biblical Languages major at Harding while I was there. He’s a Quaker now. Brent Bates was also one of our colleagues, and was recently confirmed in the Episcopal Church. I’ve recently been fascinated to read/learn of many people who have recently graduated from colleges related to the Church of Christ who either no longer belong to that fellowship, or else still belong, but espouse some beliefs which would be quite shocking to more traditional CofC members. For example, I’ve seen many blogs with links to this site.)
Hmmm.
My “side note” turned out to be longer than the original post….
Artificial meat?? Like Star Trek-esque replicator technology?
I don’t think I knew Rick, but the name Brent Bates sounds familiar. Maybe I just think I knew him. Anyhow, I’m not surprised by the number of us who left the CoC. But we shan’t get into that.
Having looked at the article on the artificial meat, I have a bad feleing about this (classic sci-fi line). I don’t think I approve. Too Brave New World.
Now that I’ve ruled on it, the matter is settled, of course.
Not quite as fancy as the Star Trek technology. I gather it would involve growing sheets of cells and then layering them together. Then finding some way to “excercise” them…
The ethics of the thing are all wrong. As you know I’m a vegetarian, but not because I think meat-eating is wrong, but rather because the way in which the animals are used in factory farming is disordered. Somehow, I suspect this falls under the same rubric.
But wouldn’t it be somehow less wrong, from that perspective, than actually using millions of animals in the factory farms?
Once you got your “seed” cells, or whatever, no actual animals would have to be used…
Not that I’m arguing for it, mind you.
I wish I could explain why, but it seems to me that it is part and parcel of a utilitarian mindset, instead of an act of stewardship.
I am not smart enough to fancy up my explanation any more than that.
Why should you be surprised? The universities are clearly more ‘liberal’ than the majority of the congregrations (as universities as a whole are more liberal than the general populace). And too, (to borrow a Dan/Adamism) I would say a large percent of those attending Harding or other CoC universities are not exactly died-in-the-wool conservative CoC members anyway. Some (like one of our good friends) belong to another denomination altogether when the start, some have no affliation, etc.. (some come having always wanting to be RC anyway,
).
Certain of the colleges may be more liberal than many congregations (ACU, Lipscomb come to mind). On the other hand, some are very conservative (Freed-Hardeman, Faulkner).
Also, I wouldn’t say that a “large” percentage of Harding students are not traditional CofC members. I would say it was a relatively small percentage.
And many of the people I specifically refer to most definitely were raised in CofC homes.
Also, I don’t think I said “surprised.” I said “fascinated.” I will now add “encouraged.”
Well we’ll just have to disagree. BIg surprise there, huh?
I still say it is more towards a ‘large’ percentage than a ’small’ percentage.
A lot of the foreign students, especially the Hispanics, would most likely be from a RC background or least be heavily influenced that way, wouldn’t you say? Plus a lot of the jocks aren’t particularly religous.
Of course, the biggest determinate is the fact that the most conservative congregations or members, don’t believe that the church should even have universities, therefore, the don’t send their kids to them (or at least the so-called CoC affliated ones) leading to a slant of the student body being more representative of more moderate to liberal students, who by their nature are less likely to stay CoC, or deviant from the traditional CoC beliefs.
Anywho, I still like you Brian, despite the fact that your wrong.
Yes, but did the Latin American students and the jocks make up a large percentage of the student body?
But what do you think about that fake meat?
I would say that combining those populations with the already by defination moderate/liberal general student body population, you therefore end of with a large percentage.
The meat thing I had already viewed/read about over at The Corner