As my good friend Greg (who told me of this story) pointed out "Have these people not read The Island of Dr. Moreau?" Well said Greg!

Hybrid animal-human embryos created for medical research should be viewed as human and permitted to develop into children, Roman Catholic bishops have urged the British parliament.

Arrgh… My inner scientists cringes at this.  Sure, we could use a race of lion men to defend our borders and what better to attend to the sick than bunny girls but I know that the Bishop has no concept of this utilitarian purpose and that any decent scientists with any sense of morals or ethics would never bring one of these monstrosities to term. Who is the mad man here, the man of faith or the man of science?
He probably thinks that the hideously deformed offspring would make a great argument that all science is evil and must be burned with the pure fires of mythic faith. He may feel that it also prove, so one might say, that god has mighty compassion for these poor creatures and has allowed them to live and we must worship him/it all the more because of it. If it’s the ‘every egg is a future contributor to the churches coffers’ (ok, a little crass there, I’ll admit that but by all accounts true) argument, then we might as well shoot all the teachers, lobotomize the scientists, and turn the calenders back to the year 1200.

Animal-human embryos need human rights, bishops say | Reuters