I was talking with an old family friend just a couple of days ago, and somehow we got on the topic of genetic engineering. I mentioned that I had just heard that scientists are close to sequencing the entire Neanderthal genome. Now, this guy is a retired minister. His answer as to why we share 98% of our genome with chimps, 60% with oak trees, and most of the rest with every living thing on earth was that God just used the same tried and true material to create all his creatures. I said tht if Genesis was true, then human beings should be radically different from every other creature. After all, the bible said god just poofed all the plants and animals into existence with a word, while he formed man out of “the dust of the ground” in his own image.

No answer for that one.

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And the best advantage? It’s such a simple explanation! Never mind the fact that it isn’t an explanation at all, but only a weird, made-up detail with the reminder “God works in mysterious ways, so stop asking questions!”.