Source: China Today
The other day I watched a movie 'The Infidel" about a middle-aged Muslim man with children and a family who finds out he was adopted and is Jewish. Hmmm. You can imagine the confusion that creates within himself, his family and friends. But why should it? He's still the same man with just a surprisingly different background than he thought he had. (I recommend this movie, by the way.)
Source: Israelity
One thing that evolutionists and creationists can agree on - the concept of Adam and Eve. Through DNA analysis it has been determined that there was very likely a founding population with a 'mitochondrial' Eve and a 'scientific' Adam. And sequencing shows that the Homo Sapiens life story in all probability began in East Africa. Despite all our physical and cultural differences - black or white, Jew or Palestinian, gay or straight, Muslim or Christian, Dalit or Brahmin, Chinese or South Korean, Hatfield or McCoy, Red Sox fan or Yankees fan - every human being on the planet is related to one another. We are literally a human family and all of us share a common ancestor.
An Interfaith Conference at Yale Divinity School
If you want to take that a step farther, every living thing on Earth is also related. Humans share 98.6% of their DNA with chimpanzees; chimps and humans are more closely related than chimps and gorillas. It is now claimed that humans and mice share about 97.5% of their DNA. And humans and bananas? Well, I've found several different answers on that one - anywhere from 50-60%, but if you believe that we evolved we have to include bananas on our list of relatives (along with everything else), but I don't think you need to invite them to your next family reunion (or the chimps either).
Source: NY Times
As supposedly more intelligent beings than the rest of our 'family' tree, people have yet to figure out how to live in peace. (Perhaps it would help if we start looking at each other as individuals instead of labels or proper nouns.) As the world population approaches the 10 billion mark, this becomes more and more critical, along with making sure there's enough habitat and wild spaces for all the other creatures that give our lives so much joy and pleasure.
Source: Something New
If you want to see a really interesting program, watch 'The Human Family Tree' on the National Geographic Channel. And the next stranger you see, just remember that you're related and you probably have more in common than you think. After all, diversity is what makes life interesting.
If you're interested in tracing your ancestral roots via DNA analysis, click here.
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