From: glenn@moeng2.morgan.edu (D. Glenn Arthur Jr.)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Created in his image?
Date: 10 Oct 92 06:28:31 GMT
Organization: The Space-Time Fabrication Institute, Rockville, MD.

{To the moderator:  if this is too long and rambles too far off topic
I am willing to edit it down.  -- dga}

In article <Oct.9.04.37.13.1992.14917@geneva.rutgers.edu> tonyp@convex.com writes:
>o Why would God have arms? 
>o Why would God have legs?
>o Why would God need a mouth?

Perhaps "in His image" does not mean "having the physical appearance
of". 

By your argument, those born missing an arm or a leg would not be
proper humans.  For that matter, people of the wrong colour could
be argued to be "not in the image of God" and therefore not really
human.

Somehow I don't think it's visual appearance that makes us human,
and therefore I don't think that's what "in God's image" means.

My personal take on the matter is that the phrase refers to 
intelligence, self awareness, and free will.  I'm sure others
will have other interpretations.


This renders your final point moot, but I'll comment on it anyhow...

>o In fact, the human design is so poor, what superior being would 
>  WANT to look / be a human? 
>  Face it: other than the brain, it is surpassed by many others;
>
>   - it isn't fast.

Compared to what?  Humans aren't the fastEST species, but we manage
to pull off some impressive times.  Depending on the distance that
needs to be covered, humans can make better time than a lot of the
animals we think of as "fast".  Sprinting isn't everything, especially
when the deer eventually tires and the tenacious human catches up 
to it yet again... 

>   - it isn't strong.

Compared to what?  Humans aren't the strongEST species, but we do
well enough in a great many situations.  We're strong enough to haul
our own bodies up into trees or up cliffs.  We're strong enough to 
build tools to give us leverage for the things we're not strong
enough to do emptyhanded.  Consider that I, who am not athletic and
not especially strong, can push-start a car singlehanded, can carry
three cases (thirty reams) of paper short distances, and can exert
considerable lifting power with my legs.  Crushing rocks in one's
grip is not the only measure of strenght.

Man is a tool-user.  I don't have to be able to push over a tree
by leaning on it -- and don't weigh enough to even if I had that
much strenght.  I have more than enough strength to swing an axe.

>   - it isn't warm.

Huh?  Fooled me!  We manage to survive all sorts of climates for
which we're not ideally suited.  Humans live in jungles, deserts,
and the arctic.  We live in places where the weather changes 
considerably with the seasons.  Our temperature regulation is 
pretty impressive as far as I'm concerned.

>   - it damages very easily.

Compared to what?  It's ironic that it takes both so much and so
little to kill a human.  We do have certain vulnerable spots, it's
true, but we're also pretty good at not getting hit there all 
that often.  Or protecting them when we do something dangerous.
Humans are more easily damaged than elephants, and less so than
mice.

>   - it has limited repair capabilities.

I dare say that any self-repairing system will have limits.  I'm
amazed, each time I get damaged, at just how effective the human
body's self-repair capabilities are.  So I suppose once again, 
I'd have to ask, "compared to what?"

>   - it doesn't last long.

Uh, compared to what?  You could complain that the body doesn't
last indefinitely, but any finite span will be "not very long"
on _some_ scale.  How many generations of mice have passed since
you were born?  No, we don't live long enough to watch the 
mountains wear away to nubs, but we do live long enough to learn,
experience, and teach much.

Besides, as a Christian I believe that there is more essentially
"me" than my body, and that that will survive the passing of my
flesh.  It is my immortal soul that is, in my belief, made in the
image of God.  A hundred and seventy pounds of meat is incidental.


-- 
D. Glenn Arthur Jr., The Human Vibrator, glenn@bessel.umd.edu
"Being a _man_ means knowing that one has a choice not to act like a 'man'."

How much interest is there in a Transvestite/Transsexual newsgroup?  How many 
would post there?   Anonymously?  How many would _vote_ non-anonymously?  And
what would you name it?  

You can send me mail anonymously at anonymus+262@godiva.nectar.cs.cmu.edu.