(Wryan Castleberry / The Advocate)

Recently in America, science and religion have come into conflict over a number of issues. Issues such as the development of stem cells, homosexuality being natural or unnatural and the theory of evolution have created an invisible line in the sand between Americans' religious beliefs and their accepted science.

While these issues are divisive by nature, the situation is exasperated by the sensationalistic media, with each side demonizing the other's argument without fully understanding, or attempting to fully understand it.

Stem cells are special cells taken from the early stages of human embryonic development capable of molding themselves to many different types of cells that the body may need. These cells offer much hope in the fight to treat crippling diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Religious groups and leaders deplored the use of potential human life, no matter what the medical and scientific community stood to gain, holding fast to the idea life begins once the egg is fertilized.

In 1998, Dr. James Thomson developed a technique to isolate and grow cells, which is currently being used to experiment on stem cells.

Three years later, President Bush set the country's national policy on stem cells, allowing research, so long as the embryos were created before a specific date and originally created for reproductive purposes.

This is a positive step forward for the scientific community and gives hope to people suffering from crippling diseases for which there are no cures.

Within the American system, however, there is still fierce resistance to stem cell research.

Over the past five years, there have been repeated occurrences of many groups calling for a national ban of the experimentation on cells from human embryos, such as the Lambkin Resolution in 2007.

Also, in 2005, the bishops of the Catholic Church launched an advertising campaign attacking proposed stem cell research advances claiming "science does not have to kill in order to cure."

This opposition continues within Congress and the religious communities, largely limiting the funding available to researchers and effectively slowing the research process.

Another conflictive issue between science and religion is the nature of homosexuality.

Many conservative religious groups think homosexuality is unnatural and a conscious immoral choice made by people.

Continued...

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