American Atheists, Inc.
P O Box 140195
Austin, Texas 78714-0195
(512) 458-1244
http://www.atheists.org


                           PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release:
February 28, 1997

                    ATHEISTS CALL FOR SUPPORT OF
                   BIOTECHNOLOGY, CLONING RESEARCH

    AMERICAN ATHEISTS today called for support of biotechnology and related
genetic research, including the use of cloning as "another step in making
human life happier, safer and more productive."
    Mr. Frank Zindler, the organization's Science Advisor, said that "The
so-called 'moral' problems certain groups express with cloning humans are
mostly based on theological bias.  In fact, a baby obtained from cloning is
no different from an ordinary identical twin: the only difference is that
it would make its appearance years after the birth of the donor twin."
    Mr. Zindler said that cloning has elicited a "knee-jerk opposition"
from churches and other religious groups because "it is the reduction ad
absurdum of the idea that there is a non-physical entity called the "soul"
that becomes associated with each individual human being."
    Ms. Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists, said that the cloning
debate is comparable to arguments about space exploration and evolution.
"It is another example of the warfare which has existed for centuries
between science and religion," she said.  "Some religionists didn't want to
accept Gallileo's evidence, or build the Mt. Palomar telescope.  Others
feared space travel, or rejected the overwhelming evidence of evolution."
    Mr. Zindler also charged that "theologians are incapable of a sober,
objective evaluation of cloning technology.  It challenges too many of their
superstitions, including their belief in a soul, or that human beings are
somehow separated from nature."
    And what about possible abuses from cloning?  "Any technology has the
potential for abuse," said Ms. Johnson.  "Our best guarantee is to defend
the principles on which a free society is based; and too often religious
groups have attacked those principles on dogmatic ground."


For more information please contact:

Mr. Frank Zindler,
          Science Advisor     (614)299-1036   Email: fzindler@atheists.org