I tend to be in Glenn Morton's camp on this one: it seems reasonable to me
to look at clues in the sites these beings occupied and to regard evidence
of art, worship, sophisticated problem solving, communication, etc. as at
least circumstantial evidence that these beings were human.
_But_ none of the objectively obtainable evidence solves the problem
categorically. We regard man as characterized by speech, art, worship,
problem-solving, etc., and we tend to regard these as unique capabilities
of men. Perhaps they're not. Or perhaps beings that most people don't
consider human _were_ indeed human. I can't imagine any "killer evidence"
that would categorically solve the problem. As a Christian I believe that
what characterizes man is the image of God, breathed into the first man
when God created him, and present in all men since. That doesn't
necessarily leave fossil evidence, and may not necessarily leave any
physical evidence. In the absence of overwhelming evidence that, say, homo
erectus was not human, it would seem to me best to give him the benefit of
the doubt and at least tentatively consider him human. Why do I recommend
this? Because otherwise, as Glenn points out, there are men living in
various isolated regons today who might not satisfy all our criteria for
humanity, and thus might qualify for being "managed" as we manage wild
animals, including controlled "hunts". The issue of Christianity Today
which arrived at my home yesterday has an article about the killing of five
missionaries in the 50's by the Auca of Ecuador. That article mentions
that during the period when the missionaries were killed, oil companies
exploring in that area were considering hunting the Auca down and either
exterminating them or driving them deep into the jungle, because the Auca
had killed oil workers. And there is no question that the Auca are human
beings. It think it's better to err on the side of considering
questionable cases human than the other way.
Bill Hamilton | Chassis & Vehicle Systems
GM R&D Center | Warren, MI 48090-9055
810 986 1474 (voice) | 810 986 3003 (FAX)
hamilton@gmr.com (office) | whamilto@mich.com (home)