I am a 43 year old musician, programmer and blogger, dedicated to stopping genetic engineering of people, aka "transhumanism."
My campaign started to promote my idea to resolve the marriage debate, so I'm asking for your vote not because I'm better qualified or deserving to be Senator, but in order to accomplish that goal.
But even before I decided to present myself as a candidate for office, when I was just blogging to promote my idea, people wanted to know where I was coming from and what my motivations and background were, as it apparently makes a big difference to whether they agree with the idea or not. So now that I am asking for people's vote to be the next Senator, it is now appropriate to tell people about myself: I am a lifelong Massachusetts resident, born under a Citgo sign in 1966 when "Nowhere Man" was at the top of the charts, and went to Newton public schools. So far, so good.
Just like Martha Coakley, my first job was scooping ice cream. I read books like Brave New World and Siddhartha, played in a band, graduated from UMass Boston (BS in Operations Management, 1989), got a place with a girlfriend in Somerville, worked at lots of record stores, played lots of drums, had lots a few more girlfriends, bands and apartments, got a sweet job programming computers during the tech boom, moved to my own place in Arlington, built a recording studio, and enjoyed life at the turn of the century. I had no moral qualms with anything, and fully supported gay rights.
All the while I continued to read philosophy books, environmentalist books, biotech books, CS Lewis's The Abolition of Man, etc. And so it was from that perspective that I became opposed to genetic engineering and eugenics and wary of the biotech industry. I carried a sign at the "BioDevestation 2000" rally in Copley Square that read "Every Child a Natural Child." I began to develop very definite moral qualms with an emerging trend now called "postgenderism" that was a radical offshoot of gay rights. My values were on a collision course if gay rights was going to include a right to do same-sex procreation, because that would open the door to genetic engineering, the Abolition of Man, the Brave New World, etc. I could see the effect Postgenderism would have on human freedom, equality, and dignity down the road, as well as immediate practical concerns such as the environmental impact, the financial cost, and the risks to children.
In 2004, my concerns were given credence when Japanese scientists created the mouse Kaguya from two females, and the President's Council on Bioethics released their first report "Reproduction and Responsibility" that recommended Congress immediately enact a law to prohibit creating people by any means other than joining an egg and a sperm. But Kaguya's birth was largely unreported by the media, and Congress ignored the report. So I started my EggAndSperm blog to try to get people to address the Council's recommendation. Soon I came up with the Egg and Sperm Civil Union Compromise and started suggesting it as a solution anywhere people were arguing about gay marriage. I've made a name for myself, and I've proven that my argument holds water: same-sex marriage means either allowing genetic engineering or stripping procreation rights from marriage. But bloggers are notoriously partisan and zealous and don't want to compromise in any way, they just want me to go away so they can keep having their (silly) arguments with each other. So this campaign is an attempt to reach a wider audience that is not invested in the arguments, to put this issue in front of the public, to explain the opportunity that we have to resolve the marriage debate and avoid a Brave New World of eugenics, genetic engineering and expensive, coerced designer babies that are not even our own children.
Writing me in will tell Congress that it is time to resolve the marriage debate already! The public is sick of it, it's wasting so much energy we need for the real problems that face us. If enough people write me in, I will introduce the bill myself, and then continue working to address the issues above after that. Spread the word! Let people know we can vote to stop same-sex marriage by writing in John Howard in the special election on January 19th, 2010!
Email me at john@eggandsperm.org
Or leave an anonymous comment at my eggandsperm blog.
Or join the brand new blog for non-partisan responsible government Purple Mass Group.
I also am an active user at RedMassGroup.com
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