Lately I have been thinking about the scriptures that tell of God's action at the Tower of Babel. There God said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them" (Genesis 11:6). It is interesting to speculate just how fast humanity would have developed had the earth remained with one language. But one thing is certain—God knew that the results would have been horrendous.

A few weeks ago an organization with ties to a strange religious cult known as the Raelians said that they had succeeded in producing a cloned human baby. No proof of this claim was offered, and many experts feel it will prove to be a hoax. Raelians are members of an atheistic cult who believe that human life on earth was created by aliens, who cloned themselves. This was "revealed" to the cult's founder, a former race car driver named Claude. He says he came across these aliens one day near a volcano when they appeared to him and revealed the purpose of life. The group is bizarre; nevertheless, their claim again raises the issue of cloning human beings.

Clinics in both the United States and Italy claim to be close to producing the first cloned humans. President Bush has said this is "deeply troubling." Indeed it should be. Science is playing with the creation of human life, attempting to become "as God" in determining good from evil. At issue is not the ability of science to manipulate genes for the betterment of mankind. The sanctity of life is at the heart of this issue, closely tied to the abortion question. With abortion man plays word games with life in the womb, defining the process as nothing more than a biological action devoid of all human sanctity. Since 1973, when abortion was legalized in the United States, many politicians, judges, theologians and other leaders have lost any moral standing to take up the banner in this issue of human cloning.

God designed life to begin in the nurturing environment of the womb through an act of love between a husband and wife who are joined as "one flesh" under the protective, sanctified bond of the divine institution of marriage. This is where roots of the tree of life are sustained and nourished. But our modern world, in the name of convenience or "choice," rips this tree from its intended soil and tosses it aside with a beastly indifference, which offends God and those who have His spiritual perspective.

Human cloning plunges humanity further into an unknown realm fraught with many perils. Besides the many biological questions as to the quality of physical life produced, there is the question of spiritual potential. God created man in His image, with the great spiritual potential to one day become part of His family. God said to Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you." God desires a relationship with man. Can this apply to cloned humans? These are deep moral and spiritual issues which science is not equipped to address.

We are deeply in need of restoring a relationship with God based on humility and submission to His will. Since our first parents made the decision to place themselves above God, humanity has been marching toward this day. We may be approaching the time when God will again say, "Now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them." We can be thankful that among the many things Christ will restore to the earth will be the understanding that He alone gives life. —WNP