Religious believers: Do clones have a soul?
926572
Well Dolly was the last of many attempts you should have seen all the other messed up sheep before her and she even died real soon. Mankind has a body, a soul and a spirit. Clones for sure have a body. And they have a will which is the soul. But do they have a spirit?. The soul is mans intelect and his desires. Sure they have that. But then again we are starting with Gods creative material and just copying it are we not. The spirit is what makes men different then all other creatures. Humans have a spirit. Do two people have the same spirit no not even twins. A clone might have all the trates of the original DNA donor but would be a diferent creation. Just as twins are different people.
630141
Many people disagree; some on religious grounds (against God's will), some on ethical/moral (somehow cloning is unnatural).  given that clones have same DNA they would have same immune system and thus be vulnerable to diseases that others might resist because of variations.
1063767
memory has nothing to do with cloning. clones are legal humans, just with identical DNA as some one else. no your children wouldnt be the clones children, the clone is one persons DNA put into the womb of a woman, and then it gets birthed like any other baby. nothing is the same except the dna, and especially not the age, relatives, or memory.  of corse its murder to kill a clone, the clone would be a person just like you or I. clones don't even necessarily grow up to look the same as their parent clone.
671971
I don't think it is as much bad, as it is unnecessary. A clone is a different person than the original. It would have a different personality and different memories and a different life. Who would want a look alike running around. The only purpose in a clone would be to farm body parts and that is WRONG.
834582
An entire human is cloned, but if you're asking if the brain will be the same in terms of the knowledge that it holds the answer is no.  Cloning makes a copy of genetics--the instructions that are stored as to how to make us physically.  The information our brains hold is all a matter of experiences encountered.  \nThis is a question of nature vs. nurture.  Our genetics do have implications as to how we think, but the way we are brought up, down to very minute details form who we are, and because it's very hard to mimic the same exact conditions that a person had growing up, it would be next to impossible to clone somebody who would think exactly like the original person.
681386
Your "soul"?  What are they teaching in biology class these days? :-)\n\nLook, a person and their clone would be no more alike than two normally occuring identical twins.  In fact, genetically, that's exactly what a clone is ... just an identical twin.  They *look* alike, and may have some similar propensities (they may both be naturally talented at math, say) ... but other than that they are two completely independent human beings.  They will have different experiences ... that makes them different.\n\nAs for your "soul", biologists are happy to leave that to the spiritual folks.  Biologists have no opinion either way.
841506
No they don`t. According to Bible only humans have souls. And unfortunately one needs soul to go to heaven. By the way I don`t believe there`s heaven. :D
95970
Not.\n\nI doubt one could ever have the same relationship with the cloned being as you did with the original. What if the relationship sucked and totally taints the memory of the original? What if the original had a sucky life and the cloned is condemned to it all over again? And the fear and grief of eventually losing that person all over again, just isn’t worth it. \n\nSome things are best as originals.
1131654
OK, *some* twins are genetic clones, in that they have identical DNA because they come from a single egg and a single sperm.  Most twins are not genetic clones and are in fact fraternal, coming from two different eggs and two different sperm.\n\nAs the parent of identical twins, I can tell you that they have a lot of differences.  They don't "share a soul" so that they can communicate in some romanticised twinspeak thing, although they do relate to each other extremely well and often feel similar emotions, but then they are usually doing the same activities and having the same experiences, so there is nothing mystical about that.  \n\nTHey are each an individual and they have their own individual likes and dislikes.  They like a lot of similar things, like their favouirte colour and games, but then that makes them similar to just about every other 3 year old girl on the planet too.\n\nBut lets get right to the point:  God caused them to come into being.  God gave them each their own soul.  They have the right to be recognised and valued as individuals.  Twins are very special and identical twins are rarer and so thought of as even more special - it is always a novelty for people to see people who look exactly alike.  But as a parent of two other children who are not twins, I can also say that every single person born is just as special.  Lets not bestow multiple birth children with mystical qualities.  Lets just let them be kids.  They get enough unsolicited attention and advice as it is.
1020019
Working in the health care field I personally have mixed emotions. On a religious level it's just not natural to do.  However, if it were my children that needed a heart, kidney, etc. I'm certain I would consider medical professionals cloning them as a method of an exact match for replacement organs.
1001973
No one really knows about re-incarnation.  There are alot of people out there who look quite a bit alike yet thre is no relation.\n\nHere is what I believe:  \nWe are made of energy (fact).  When we die, that energy remains (fact).  So who is to say it DOESN'T go from your body to another's?  For all you know you can be a re-incarnated person and you wouldn't know it.  I mean...you won't remember anything of your previous life...it isn't the memory that passes along..it is your energy.  You could be the same energy of someone else.  \nEnergy cannot be created nor destroyed.  FACT.\n\nBelieve what you want...just have your faith.
1089628
I like your question -- it is very difficult to answer, because there is no simple response!  This is the first challenging question that I've been asked before concerning my religion -- I just don't have all the reasons behind the answers.\n\nSome of your question I can answer, though.  The philosophy of the soul does not pertain to the idea that it has a quanitfiable existence.  It is the ego and spirit of a person, something intangible yet certainly present.  As far as the theology behind this concept, you're right, it's difficult to say when a "soul" would be created.  I couldn't say when the "second soul" comes into the picture, but it certainly wouldn't be "half" of the first.
1039013
First off, men (and women) have been arounf a lot longer than 6000 years. The 6000 years figure is one the fundamentalists use, ignoring all scientific evidence to the contrary. There was no cloning involved. The whole Adam and Eve story is a poem, like most of the bible, certainly not meant to be taken literally. \n\nThere has never been a cloned human baby. The S. Koreans claimed to have done it but they were "stretching" the truth somewhat.
218315
Never, Only God can create soul, humans can't and won't. we don't understand what it is. We create AI and we did as a matter of fact, but their will be always limitaions. for we can't give the machines or computers "free will" or consciousness. so cheer up mate, they won't control you!
662477
I'm not sure whether a human has been cloned yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.  My perception is that when something is scientifically possible, it will be done.  The important thing is to have ethical standards around how and under what circumstances it is done.\n\nScience fiction has been dealing with this question for many years, and it is one reason science fiction is so important.  It constitutes a forum for working out the moral values involved in a particular technological advance by "thought experiment" before being done in laboratory experiment.\n\nThe one I have problems with is whether or not clones will have souls.  Somebody asked that on Y!A awhile back, and I answered that it's a question we will need to resolve before we get into cloning humans.  And it's a question that raises a host of others:  What is a soul?  Do people really have such things, or is it just an abstract idea with no basis in "reality."  For that matter, what is "reality?"  ("What a concept!" says Robin Williams.)  If there is really such a thing, how does it get into a person?  What difference would it make if a clone did not have one?\n\nYou see, we have some important questions to answer here.
602448
sure, but that doesn't mean that the child is going to be exactly me.  We are formed by our environments, if I get a lot of sun that may mean that I am going to have a lot of moles and freckles, but my clone wouldn't.  The clone also would probably eat a lot better than I did when I was little, so they would develop better than I did, meaning that they could end up taller, fatter, bustier, and all that.  \nI am also unique by the childhood that I have, many of my ideas and mental characteristics were formed due to my upbringing but my clone would not have the same upbringing, so they may be much smarter or dumber than I or they may be republican, I don't know.
421475
Because of the way a cloned human being would have to be made they would not be identical. To create a clone they inseminate an egg with the DNA of the person they wish to clone until it begins to devide and grow. Then the embryo is implanted into a woman's womb. There would be some gentic difference due to the influence of the egg and womb that the child developed in.