Well, how very interesting: the PM I just read ended by asking me "What would Jesus do?", and the first post I looked at today wonders if I happen to be a creationist. For the record: no, I am not. I belong to the Methodist church, yes; but not only do I not consider myself a "model Methodist", it doesn't follow that I am a wild-eyed Bible thumper, either. There is very little (in fact, I can't think of ANYthing) in the world that I embrace and accept completely, from Christianity (and esp. its more fanatical representatives) to friends to books to medical information. I figure there is at least room for doubt, or fault, in just about everyone and everything. People: even those whom I love most dearly have traits that I can't go along with. Do I accept as correct everything they do and believe without question everything they say? No. Do I love them any less because of these traits? No. It is part of who they are, and I choose to accept dealing with these in order to continue my relationship with them. Books: in fiction, it goes without saying that not all of it will be true. In non-fiction, I wonder such things as how thoroughly the author did his research, and how much his own bias might have affected what he wrote. Medical info.: ha! My mother was a nurse, and I learned as a child that doctors don't always know everything (sorry, all you MD's here). Please note that assuming that things are not necessarily the complete truth is not the same as assuming that everything is deceptive.
Which, actually, CK, sounds like your wondering about the origin of our species. I was taught that it was in the fertile crescent, too. And it seems likely--based on the information that we have. But we know that we have only a tiny portion of what the whole picture was back then; and it is usually risky to extrapolate a whole view based on small fragments.
[train of thought e] In my opening para., I started to put that I am a Methodist by profession--meaning that I profess to being a Methodist--then realized it would sound as though I were a minister or something. That made me wonder about the difference(s) between PROfess and CONfess, since pro and con are so often opposites. Maybe I should have said that I confess to being a Methodist! [/train of thought]
