Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence 4th Degree - The Great Debate [13:43] [also known as "Conflict At Ground Zero"] music by Myung, Petrucci, Portnoy, Rudess lyrics by John Petrucci "A Gallup snapshot poll taken immediately after [Both Channels] President Bush's speech on funding embryonic stem cell research last night shows that half of Americans approve of his decision, 25% do not, and still another 25% aren't sure what to think." "Most people don't even know what stem cells are." [Left Channel] "Who's going to scream the loudest, will it be the [Both Channels] right-to-lifer's, will it be the scientists? And now what's going to happen is that there will be a tremendous amount of lobbying in Washington D.C. Scientists, entertainers, people who want to see this research will be coming forth." "I'm concerned about it, Christopher Reeves is [Right Channel] concerned about it, everyone is concerned about it, but the big question is, do the ends justify the means? And when we talk about research, yes we can cure a lot things speculatively, but where's the proof?" "These developing human beings that they're talking [Left Channel] about, these embryos were produced in an artificial scientific environment, in vitro fertilization is not God's will." "That doesn't make them any less human though, after [Right Channel] that happens." "We're on a road where we really don't where we're [Both Channels] going as far as what's next, we're talking about harvesting embryos, we're talking about this, we're talking about that, but what is the cost?" "How could we possibly abandon the research?" [Left Channel] [The following samples are played simultaneously] "Well that's right, it's the old question, I mean if [Left Channel] you think the research is good, of course you'd have no problem at all with it. It's only if you think the research involved is something evil, then you get the question of ‘Is it okay to [???]?’ And the truth of the matter is that we do that all the time with organ transplants, I mean with people that are killed or murdered or people who're just victims of automobile accidents, abandoning all [???]. We do take their organs and we look to try to save other lives. We try to [???] all the time. [???] kill someone [???]" "And I'd like to mention that we don't have the answers [Left Channel] yet. We need to put the money into something that'll hopefully get those answers in the future. Listen, we're out of time." "And in this country there was a great outrage of [???] from all points. From churches, mainline [???]... that you can not use [???]... to cure [???]... and as it turned out [???]... great outrage... [???]" [Right Channel] What if someone said Promise lies ahead Hopes are high in certain scientific circles Life won't have to end You could walk again What if someone said Problems lie ahead They've uncovered something highly controversial The right to life is strong Can't you see it's wrong Human kind has reached a turning point Poised for conflict at ground zero Ready for a war Do we look to our unearthly guide Or to white coat heroes Searching for a cure Turn to the light Don't be frightened of the shadows it creates Turn to the light Turning away would be a terrible mistake Anarchistic moral vision Industries of death Facing violent opposition Unmolested breathe Ethic inquisitions breed Antagonistic views Right wing sound bite premonitions In a labyrinth of rules Are you justified Are you justified Are you justified Justified in taking Life to save life Life to save life Taking life to save life This embryonic clay Wrapped in fierce debate Would be thrown away Or otherwise discarded Some of us believe It may hold the key To treatment of disease And secrets highly guarded Are you justified Are you justified Are you justified Justified in taking Life to save life Life to save life Life to save life Human kind has reached a turning point Poised for conflict at ground zero Ready for a war Do we look to our unearthly guide Or to white coat heroes Turn to the light Don't be frightened of the shadows it creates Turn to the light Turning away would be a terrible mistake We're reaching But have we gone too far Harvesting existence Only to destroy Carelessly together We are sliding Someone else's future Four days frozen still Someone else's fate We are deciding Miracle potential Sanctity of life Faced against each other We're divided Should we push the boundaries Or should we condemn Moral guilt and science Have collided Turn to the light We defy our own mortality these days Turn to the light Pay attention to the questions we have raised [The following samples are played simultaneously] "...research, scientific advancement. And I know we're [Left Channel] going down a road that we may not know where we end, but we...that's exactly what science is all about. I'm very sorry, but I you know I do feel sympathy for people who whose spines are...have uh have been severed. There's a possibility we might be able to cure them. I am concerned about a cure for juvenile diabetes. And if these types of scientific advancements can cure these diseases, then quite candidly I think there ought to be at least, what President Bush has said, some limited research." "One of the one of the big questions that still remains for [Right Channel] me though is that all of these embryos that are are set or uh being discarded for example um is this worse than just throwing those away?" "We don't know if they're going to be discarded. All of a [Right Channel] sudden, I mean, we're going to say, uh we started with the ones that are going to be discarded. Then all of a sudden, we're going to have people being solicited to donate parts of their their anatomy to harvest parts of, like, a part of what have you. I mean that's how's it starts." "Even though if they start soliciting, women and men in [Right Channel] fertility clinics have extra embryos." "Stem cells come from developing human beings and that they [Right Channel] shouldn't be uh experimented on in a way that doesn't make sense or that is unethical, but at the same time there is great promise." "I have a 28-year-old son, her grandson, that that uh is [Left Channel] uh paraplegic. And if there is a small chance that my son would be able to have any feeling and be able to walk, I am for it." "a human body having evolving for tens of thousands of [Right Channel] years and we're just injecting cells from embryos into people's brains, and and how do we come to to do something like that?"