So how would the souls of cloned humans be different from those of humans conceived through medical procedures like in vitro fertilization?
A cloned human would be something like an identical twin to the original owner of the genes, although probably younger. If the clone embryo is carried to term by a woman and risen like a normal human being what would be un-normal about his/her soul? Identical twins have unique souls and personalities, even though they have all their genes in common, and (in most cases) their childhood experiences, too.
IVF is much different,at least to me.Though much of the process occurs in a external,controlled environment there are natural materials involved.The baby still stems from actual sperm and eggs as far as I know.It appears that the only real tampering is removing the eggs,fertilizing them externally and replacing them whilst hoping for the pregnancy to take.
Cloning is an entirely different ballgame.To illustrate this Ill paste from an article with a shorter explanation of the process.
"The most common cloning method, known as "somatic cell nuclear transfer" or simply "nuclear transfer," requires two kinds of cell. One is a somatic cell, which is collected from the animal that is to be cloned (known as the "genetic donor"). A somatic cell is any cell other than a sperm cell or egg cell, and contains the complete DNA, or genetic blueprint, of the animal it came from. For cloning purposes, somatic cells are typically obtained by a routine skin biopsy performed by a veterinarian.
The other kind of cell required for cloning is an egg cell, which is collected from a female of the same species (known as the "egg donor"). In the lab, a scientist extracts and discards the nucleus of the egg cell, which is the part of the cell that contains the egg donor's genes. The scientist then inserts the somatic cell from the genetic donor into the egg and "fuses" the two with electricity. The resulting fused egg contains the genetic donor's DNA.
The scientist stimulates the fused egg, which "activates" the egg and causes it to divide just as an egg would if it had been fertilized by a sperm cell in conventional reproduction. The activated egg is then placed in a culture medium. As cellular division continues over the course of several days, a blastocyst (early-stage embryo) forms. After about a week, an embryo transfer specialist transfers the blastocyst to a recipient female (sometimes referred to as "surrogate mother") where it continues to develop. After a full-term pregnancy, the recipient gives birth to an animal that is essentially the identical twin of the genetic donor. "
As you can see an animal is basically Frankenstein'd into life by utilizing specifically selected and extracted cellular and DNA material and as stated "fused" through electrical means.Not exactly a natural creature.
I also partially agree on the soul issue.I figure im about 50/50 on the matter.On one hand I think any human life is a bit different than those of animals.As such just for that spark of life to be possible God would certainly have to be involved in some way.And then the other half of me really does wonder exactly what the spiritual outcome of a Franken-baby would be.With all the Extraction and splicing it seems like more of a creature than a person.As such,I believe that though we shouldnt unnecessarily condemn such a being it would merit a great degree of caution.
I'd be way more afraid of how mankind would treat clones than of soulless zombies from cloning.
Absolutely.I would bet that almost immediately any such person would regarded with revulsion and general distrust.As mentioned by Farouk,you may even have the "parent" company regarding it as property or an investment.All things considered,I believe the most ethical thing would be to leave that process to God and have our children naturally.
