Dream Theater - The Great Debate - Live In London, UK 7/24/11 lyrics

"A Gallup snapshot poll taken
Immediately after 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"
"Who is going to scream the
Loudest? Will it be the
Right-to-lifers or will it be
The scientists? And now
What's going to happen is that
There will be a
Tremendous amount of lobbying in
Washington, DC: scientists, entertainers
People who want to see this research
- will be coming forth"
"I am concerned about it christopher
Reeve is concerned about it
Everyone is concerned about it the
Big question is do
The ends justify the means? When
We talk about research, yes, we can cure a
Lot of thingsspeculatively but
Where is the proof?"
"These developing human beings that
You are talking 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 that happens"
"We are on a road where we really don't know
Where we are going as far as what's
Next we are talking about
Harvesting embryos we are
Talking about this, we are
Talking about that, but what is the cost?"
"How could we possibly abandon the research?"
"That is right that is the old question
If you think the research is good
Then you may not have a problem
With it it is only if
You think the research is questionable that
You get defensive about it
(you do have time to research
These embryos later if we choose to do so
While people are suffering
We are not truly certain that this
Will provide a cure) "
"And there was a great outrage in
The conservative churches you cannot use
Developing humans at that point in
Time they turn into humans"
"I feel that abandoning this
Research could be
A mistake researching this may allow us
To save other lives or at least
To improve the quality of lives"
"We do not have the answers
Yet we need to put the
Money where we will get those
Answers in the future listen
We are out of time"

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?"

Humankind 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 breath
Ethic inquisitions breed antagonistic views
Right wing sound bite premonitions
A labyrinth of rules

Are you justified are you justified
Are you justified justified in taking
Life to save life? Life to save life?
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?

Humankind 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
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

"One of the big questions that
Still remains for me, though
Is that all of these embryos that
Are sent or will be
Discarded - is this worse than
Just throwing those away?"
"You do not know that all of
These will be discarded all of
A sudden you say which ones will
Be discarded and all of
Sudden you have people being solicited for
Parts of their anatomy then
They harvest parts of people's bodies
That is how it starts"
"People are not soliciting
There are fertility
Clinics that have extra embryos"
"The research is a scientific advancement
I know we are
Going down a road that we may not
Know where we end, but that is exactly what
Science is all about i am very sorry
But, I do feel
Sympathy for those whose spines have
Been severed there is
A possibility that we might cure them i am
Concerned about a cure for juvenile
Diabetes and if these
Types of scientific advancement can
Cure these diseases
Then quite candidly I think there
Ought to be at least what President Bush has
Proposed: some limited research"
"Stem cells come from developing human
Beings and they shouldn't be
Experimented on 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
Who is paraplegic and
If there is a small chance that my
Son can be able to have feeling and be
Able to walk then I am for it"
"Human beings have been evolving
For tens of thousands
Of years and we are just injecting
Cells from embryos into people's
Brains how do
We come to do something like that?"