X-Message-Number: 23492 Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 10:37:06 -0500 From: randolfe wicker <> Subject: Arizona Politicians Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Arizone politicians are the subject of this opinion I posted today on the Venturist newsletter. I'm taking the liberty of sharing it here on cryonet as well. I certainly approve of the efforts of well meaning people to defeat the terrible proposed legislation in Arizona. However, I think some are naive insofar as they actually believe what politicians tell them. Politicians are two-faced liars. They tell everyone what they think that person wants to hear and then vote the way they choose. The bottom line in this debate is that these "legislators" and the public in general think "those folks freezing people out there in the desert are a bunch of kooks". They are not interested in rational discussion. They don't hear reasonable arguments. They essentially feel "we don't want those folks doing that kind of stuff around here" and that is the way they are goiing to vote. Maybe if they saw an economic benefit, they might modify their view but last time I checked, Alcor was not a major employer in the area. The reality is that they have moral objections, probably based on their religious backgrounds, to the idea of people trying to "play God" by suspending themselves in hopes of future resurrection. I can hear the preachers thundering now about how it is "desecration of the body" and "an insult to the dignity of human beings" to freeze "those corpses" instead of letting them "find eternal rest". (Amen!) The only way those who believe in cryonics will prevail is to establish themselves as a religious organization and win their right to practice their beliefs in the courts. Politicians are light years away from dealing sensibly with cryonics. Just look at the stupidity they display regarding simple cloning. The "talking points" in Alcor's letter are quite good. Perhaps we will get some sort of an intelligent discussion at some level of society. However, that is not going to happen in the Republican dominated government of the State of Arizona. Sad but true. Cloningly yours, Randolfe Wicker Founder, Clone Rights United Front, www.clonerights.com Spokesperson, Reproductive Cloning Network, www.reproductivecloning.net Advisor, The Immortality Institute, www.imminst.org email: phone: 201-656-3280 Yahoo! Groups Links a.. To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Venturists/ Founder, Clone Rights United Front, www.clonerights.com Spokesperson, Reproductive Cloning Network, www.reproductivecloning.net Advisor, The Immortality Institute, www.imminst.org email: phone: 201-656-3280 Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=23492