Peter, Wesley, while agreeing with Derb on the limits of open-mindedness, I’m obviously in agreement with you that scientists should not be penalized because of their views on therapeutic cloning, even if those views, ironically, may include banning other scientists’ research, or the product of that research.

Turning to the case of those scientists who argue for intelligent design, they too should be free to express their opinions without worrying about ther effect on their careers, but I am rather reminded of the case of the late John Mack, the Harvard psychiatrist who argued (at least at one point) that alien abductions were a real phenomenon (he later qualified that to alien abduction experiences). After he started down the route towards little green men, it was difficult to take anything that he said very seriously.

The analogy, I think, is clear.