Not lettuce

Maybe you have heard that humans share about 98% of our genes with apes. This fact is sometimes claimed as evidence by those who deny a transcendent difference between humans and animals, who prefer that we see ourselves as a variety of ape.

But author Wesley J. Smith has a counter-argument:

"We share many genes with lettuce, but that doesn't make us part salad." The actual percentage of our genome that we share with lettuce is about 50%. What that tells you is that you can be hugely different from another life form while having a lot of the same genetic code.

Activists who tout the 98% figure may have "an ax to grind", that is, a cause - human equivalence to animals, the subverting of traditional values or faith, something that rejects the intrinsic dignity of human lives.

"Time will tell whether society chooses to accept this radical equation. We just shouldn't be fooled into thinking that the idea is compelled by "the science." It's about ideology."