Honour thy Father and thy Mother

I've been teaching a unit on cyborgs, with the intention of engaging my students in ethical debates about artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and other challenges to human identity that are likely being devised elsewhere on campus as we speak.  We watched a Star Trek episode where an android has to endure a court case to determine if he is property or an autonomous being.  One of the arguments he makes is that he is the expression of his creator's vision, and is therefore sacred.  I asked my students who their creator is (responses included both God and parents), and then asked if and why they felt responsible to those who created them.  After a long period of silence, I provoked them with a "So, none of you care about your parents?  To hell with Mum and Dad!"  This got a laugh, and then my student with perpetual bed-head offered that "If I had to choose between my parents and a box of chocolates, I guess I would choose my parents."  I couldn't resist exclaiming "Wow, that's going in my blog!"