Re: Quo vadis AAAARG metaphor limits

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 96-02-09 14:13:12 EST, pharrinj@PLU.edu (Nicholas J.
Pharris) writes:

>That is, indeed, a nice metaphor, and applicable in many cases, but not 
>this one.  Birds are not sprung from a sister tree to that of dinosaurs; 
>they are a branch of that tree.
>
>

This is like an argument about which religion is better. Use whichever
system, cladistic or Linnaean, is most convenient and useful to you. If the
former, then birds are dinosaurs; if the latter, then birds descended from
dinosaurs (or, rather, dinosaurs and birds descended from dino-birds: BCF).

Christianity sprang from Judaism. Is it, therefore, simply a Jewish sect? Or
is it a genuinely new religion? English derives from an olde Teutonic tongue.
Is English therefore merely a dialect of German? Or is it a genuinely new
language? As "Linda Richman" might say, "Argue among yourselves..."