But from what I see on wikipedia of either rhizomes or grafting, neither one of them actually produces cross-species DNA combinations. To the degree that this happens, the cladistics analogy misleads us.

What about breeding hogs and ducks on the same farm and generating new flu viruses that way? I don’t know what the technical term for this is.

We seem to be arguing about how much different religions steal from each other (or infect one another). Maybe we are using the wrong unit of analysis, and should be looking at individual beliefs or behavior patterns rather than religions. A religion is like a pond with many different types of plants, animals, and bacteria growing in it. Boaters can easily spread zebra mussels from one pond to another.

I’m also toying with a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or alcoholism analogy. A man may be a decent citizen, husband and father most of the time, but every once in a while he goes on a drinking binge and beats his wife. Christian sects keep vacillating between tragic and utopian views of human nature.

Enlightenment:

Primacy of reason.

Dark Enlightenment:

Reason from observation, stupid!