Primates Should be Human(e)

By kayeshannon · May 30, 2008 · ·
Categories:
  1. Reading through a dicoesan newsletter I was surprised and baffled when the bishops of Anglican churches in Africa were called primates in an article. Giggling a little, thinking of apes, why of earth would a bishop be called a primate?

    Primate means "first" in Latin, so in Catholic, Anglican (in the Unites States - the Episcopal Church), and in Eastern Orthodox churches, some bishops or archbishops are called primates - the first bishop, meaning the most important, not numerically the first, but the
    one currently most important, and not only that, some primates are metropolitan primates - which I thought were only in San Diego or New York or Cleveland zoos.

    Let's consider monkeys, apes and humans. A primate is a member of the biological order Primates, a group consisting of the commonly related species consisting of lemurs, monkeys and apes, with the last (or first, since we are primates) category including humans, some of which are metropolitan, others rural or suburban, which a religious primate can be as well.

    Today MSNBC Live Science reportred that Jared Taglialatela, a bioligist at the Yerkes Nation Primate Research Center in Atlanta siad, "we share many profound likenesses with our closest animal relations. They posesss remarkable language capacities, have the ability to make and use tools, and even to learn behaviors from other members of their community - all traits once thought to be the hallmarks of humanity."

    In the UK there is a court case in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France to declare primates human. According to Sarah Brosnan of Georgia State University, "One of the hard things is there is no single characteristic that has been found that makes humans truly unique."

    According to MSNBC, about 96 to 98 percent of 100 DNA structures of chimps and humans
    match up.

    Then Primates would truly be Primates!

    Maybe we should combine religious and biological primates into one group called the Order of Primates - since apes are primates and many primates have behaved like apes, or their cousin the monkey, especially some Catholic or Episcopal ones, which is a totally different topic. Makes a good movie title - The Order of the Primates - and would definitely have innumerable sequels.

    The locale could be the Conferenza Episcopale Italiana and focus on primates run amok in Rome - the Amalfi coast is more scenic, but Rome has more sneaky little hiding places. Or Florence. Florence would be good.


    KayeShannon
    Categories:

Comments

  1. Wreybies
    *Excellent! A fellow fan of etymology.*



    I’ve not ever seen the word primate used outside of the secular scientific realm. Some web searching has evinced that you are correct! Interesting. :cool:

    Within the world of anthropology (at least in America) the argument concerning what is the actual meaning of the word human is an old one. Does it mean the species we know as homo sapiens sapiens? Can the meaning be further expanded to include our closest evolutionary relatives, the Neanderthal? Can it go further out to include all creatures who claim the word homo in their species designator?

    Does a human have to belong to our lineage at all?

    After all, what does a humpback whale do with a thirty pound brain?

    Is human a kind of being, or a state of being?
To make a comment simply sign up and become a member!
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice