GENEALOGY-DNA-L Archives

Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2003-11 > 1069706851


From: Ken Brock <>
Subject: RE: [DNA] Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 12:47:31 -0800
In-Reply-To: <000c01c3b185$d2b1a4d0$6501a8c0@RJEMAIN>


Roberta - "...it's the back door connection between the church, the
methodology of collecting the samples/data, and the commercial venture..."
I wish I still had your astonishment i.e., naivete that institutions are for
the purpose of good and to make the world and better place for all of us.
Unfortunately, I'm at the other end of the spectrum of being skeptical of
everything especially institutions that have a goal to do good. The ideal
would be to view everything with a critical eye and have a basic belief that
most people are good. I'm working on this with difficulty.

For those who are saying that Sorenson's work is not officially an LDS
project you are right i.e., your phraseology is correct but we're not going
to be asking for you do testify to Congress about your accuracy. For the
purposes of this list I would appreciate you being honest.

I participated in the LDS study and was happy with the disclosure statement.
I think it's selfish of them to stick a needle in my arm, give up a couple
hours of my time and then not share my individual results with me. If they
add to the general knowledge base that all Genealogist will benefit from and
recover their cost I call that a win win situation.

If one really wants to be upset about abuse of "research subjects" take a
look at the US government spraying anthrax in the New York subway without
anyone's knowledge in the 60s to see how far it would spread. In the
discussion about the LDS study I suggest we stick to what we know and limit
speculation and keep it in perspective. Ken Brock


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