My Scientific American has news about Neanderthals and their relationship with us. In my wandering (wondering) mind, that brought up the question: would they go to Heaven?

I do believe in Adam and Eve. There are a couple of Adam and Eve's, in fact. The biological ones that go back to the origin of our genes, the female and male homo sapiens that all of our genes can be traced to.

The biblical one, also. I say they were the first critters to have a soul. And that means the first to have a conscious interaction with God. The first to pray? Somewhere in the millenia past, Adam came back to his cave and said to Eve, “Honey, I just discovered God and talked to him.” And then he gave his rib (heart) to her and explained his deepest thoughts and beliefs.

Were they homo sapiens? Probably. Adam and Eve would have to have the brain power to not only be aware of themselves (that is about the intellect of a human three year old) but be one step higher and aware of their place in the universe and one step higher still to be consciously aware of and able to communicate with God. A chimp may be self aware and, somewhere in the back of his chimpy brain, probably is aware, like most other animals, of God. But not consciously.

Could Adam and Eve have been Neanderthal's? Possibly but not likely. They cared for their sick and wounded. Buried their dead with tools and food for their trip to the happy hunting ground. The science publications seem to say that they did not have the ability to imagine or see esthetic concepts, however. Things like decorating themselves or painting their caves. It does not seem to me that they would make it all the way to that third step of being consiously aware of God and communicating with him.

If we go to Heaven, will there be Neanderthals there? It is difficult to picture Heaven without puppies and butterflies and robins. Neanderthals possibly in that category. But not in the category of critters like us who do have souls.

This morning's (Sunday's) talk shows, which I look forward to all week, had interviews with and discussions about several of the Presidential candidates. And each was judged on terms of being a liberal or a conservative.

As for me, I would rather just be me. I do not want to be a liberal or a conservative, neither a Republican nor a Democrat. Maybe, I do not want to be an Independent, either. When you acquire a label like that, folks expect you to fit the mold. The labelled person expects himself to fit the mold. If I say myself to be a liberal and I hear the news folks talk about a liberal candidate or platform, I would think I should agree with it. What I think or believe in comes from my brain, not whether I am part of any group. I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.

As a science teacher, it was always important to make certain that the student knew that every finding must be without bias. A scientist takes the data at its face value. Makes the conclusion fit the data, not the other way around. I want to make certain that I judge, vote, write to my Congressman, on the information I glean and not which camp I put myself into.

The “Surge”. What a fuss. And which of our lawmakers is genuine or which is pandering the party or the polls. Whom can tell?

Make no mistake, we should not have made ourselves the aggressors (see July 24th entry, "Iraq and the Good Guy"). When we went for our gun first, we changed from a white hat to a dirty black one. When we did that, God and The Right was no longer on our side and the Gods became against us. And, I think President Bush had his own personal axes to grind (as did the CIA and State) which made the morality of the war even worse.

But that was then and now is now. We are in the midst of a bad situation made worse by being on the wrong side of what's right. That does not mean that we abandon the fight. It may make it more costly in lives and treasure, but if you get into a fight, you go the distance. Senator McCain has the right idea. Let's remedy all the mistakes and incompetencies of the past years of this war and get it done right and then let the Iraqi's do themselves in (see July 19th entry, "Lebanon and Israel").

I like www.congress.org. They send me emails about pending bills and have an easy way to air my eccentricities to my elected representatives. One of the bills coming up that they alerted me to has to do with stem cell research funding. A couple of thoughts:

Like another famous Virginian, I firmly believe in separation of church and state. And, like the French say, it ought to go both directions. Just as the government should stay out of church operations, churches should stay out of running the government. Of course, each of us has religious beliefs and those beliefs are important in how we live our lives. There is nothing wrong with pastors airing their wisdom with their flocks. But churches should not specify what health care I get. Or a bunch of other things in my life.

In principle, I am against both the death penalty and any degree of destroying the unborn. The decision of life and death should be between the person and God. Opening that decision to anyone else sets a precident that is unacceptable and dangerous. And, as a scientific type person, I respect the miracle of our DNA and the molecular reproduction process. Life starts at the first bunch of cellular divisions. But, the killing of folks who have a medical problem that could be cured by stem cell treatments also falls under this principle. A true dilemma. Which is murder and who is the murderer? And then there is the treatment of the severely disabled. My decision in this case is that we – including the Federal government - should support medical research, including stem cell. It leads to new and miraculous things, and this holds much promise. Let's support stem cell funding research. A blastocyst that will be destroyed anyway is not in the same category as a child or adult who is ill or injured.

While weeding in my garden today, I noticed that some plants pulled a couple of days ago were still struggling to survive, even though all the soil left to them was a few tiny bits still clinging to their roots. The tenacity of life. It is amazing. The mind wanders to what this means to us.

Of course, we have that same tenacity. Our bodies are marvelously built to keep going and to repair nature's ravages. As are our mental and spiritual strengths. Spiritual strengths? When we pray for the strength and ability to get through all that happens to us, does God answer our prayers? The answer is, of course He does. He already did. That tenacity that He gave to those weeds, He gave to us. And we can call it up at will. All we have to do is pray and we answer those prayers with the gifts God has implanted in us. We and our world are miraculous.

There have been some news shows on the news and in National Geographic about the medical care in Iraq. The advances in medicine are stupendous. Of course, there is the aspect that our medical establishment is making money hand over fist from our disasters. The doctors and nurses in Iraq make it obvious that there are other reasons, too. We just plain care about each other. And want to help. Where did that come from? Our evolved need to work together to survive? Of course. And from the Author of all of our evolution and survival. Pray for survival from the ravages of this life and the system that the God who gave us evolution has provided comes to our aid.

The power of prayer.