Never Give In
(08-10-2001)

During the recent hubbub over stem cell research, I realized that instead of electing "moderate" candidates and then whining at them to listen to us, we should start by electing good representatives. We shouldn't have to cajole, threaten, harass, bribe, and plead with our government officials to do the right thing. We would save ourselves a lot of trouble by simply electing men who want to do the right thing, regardless of what the polls say, regardless of what the talk shows expect, regardless of what the special interest groups want.

President Bush compromised in his announcement last night about embryonic stem cell reserach. The problem with compromise is that the right side usually gets the rum deal. The choice was between zero federal funding and more than zero federal funding. The choice should be simple. Even if the Federal government is authorized by the Constitution to spend any money on medical research (which is dubious), it should not support any research that treats life as a commodity. Bush chose more than zero federal funding. He compromised.

The other side wants us to be happy that Bush didn't authorize expanded federal research on new embryos. They want us to be satisfied with a compromise. How can we be happy when life loses respect? In the long run, we will never "win" by compromising our principles. We will only win by committing ourselves to the truth. We may be ridiculed, we may lose earthly power, we may die. But God forbid that we should give in.