Re: [asa] getting my anecdotes straightened out

I did a few google searches and came up empty. It looks like an
anti-Christian "story."

One note I did find which was interesting. The biblical account may be
an explanatory myth for the absence of a different bone than the rib.
Most male mammals have a baculum, a bone for stiffening the penis.
Humans are a rare exception, relying on hydraulics instead. A
baculum, unlike a rib, is associated with reproduction. The closing of
flesh mentioned in Genesis 2:21 could refer to the raphe, a seam on
the penis and scrotum.

jb

On 2/20/09, Merv Bitikofer <mrb22667@kansas.net> wrote:
> Can anybody remember the source of this, or discern if it is no more
> than urban legend?
>
> From the point of view of an anthropology professor, the story
> goes.... a young lady raised her hand in class and quite calmly and
> seriously informed him that it was impossible that men and women have
> the same number of ribs because the Bible teaches otherwise. The
> incredulous professor then challenges her to go examine the skeletons in
> the lab to see for herself.
>
> This was probably used in the context of belittling creationists (I
> think.). But I can't remember where I read it. I want to say in one of
> Stephen Jay Gould's books, but I'm not sure. (And Gould is generally
> more respectful towards believers though he could be feisty in his own
> right on behalf of truth and science.)
>
> Oh ---and please note; this isn't to open commentary on the anecdote
> itself. Obviously the claimed facts are all wrong and the Bible teaches
> no such thing about our rib counts today. And of course most reflective
> creationists would never make such a claim. The point of the whole
> thing is/was to illustrate a simple-minded interaction between belief
> and the self-prided hard core "scientist". I want to find the source
> to see if the alleged event is convincingly documented to have happened.
>
> --Merv
>
>
>
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-- 
Burgy
www.burgy.50megs.com
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