I have a big day coming up next month. It’s a day I’ve been coalescing towards for most of my life. Big, little, forwards, backwards, all my steps got me here, to the point where I could make my decision.

On April 7th, I’m shedding my journey of one, and becoming a Catholic.

Organized religion is full of prats, pitfalls, and pecksniffery. It’s also full of individual people, many who are there for the same reason as me. Catholicism drew me because they interpret rather than read. It’s a thinking encouraged environment. Before I started taking my classes, I would have sworn Catholics excelled at guilt, ate fish on Fridays, and put on a lot of pageants. I understand a lot more now. It’s interesting to come at a religion as an adult, rather than sponging it up as a child. While I believe that the organization of the Catholic Church has some serious issues, I’m old enough to see the difference between the structure and the message.
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You may not have noticed it, but there has been a flurry of activity this week on the stem-cell front. Several pieces of legislation have been introduced (or voted on) to legalize embryonic stem-cell research.

1. On March 8th, the New Mexico Senate narrowly passed a bill that allows certain types of embryonic research. The measure also bans human cloning (though I’m not sure if that is just reproductive cloning or all cloning). If the bill passes the New Mexico House of Representatives, it will be signed into law by Governor Bill Richardson. Yet another reason to like Richardson as a candidate for President in my opinion.

2. House Bill 2704 was filled on March 6th in the Texas (yes that Texas) legislature aimed at protecting the legality of embryonic stem-cell research. The measure has bipartisan support (just like it does at the national level). Like the other 2 measures, the bill would ban human cloning and make it a criminal offense.
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