This is one of my favorite videos from about 10 years ago...
I find it amusing for several different reasons, not all of which are necessarily polite. ;)
But here's the thing about bananas - in particular, these Cavendish bananas: they're all clones of one another, carefully selected for their characteristics (length, shelf-life, taste, etc) by human beings and perpetuated just as carefully to ensure those characteristics continue in each successive strain. It's a cultivar - a cultivated variety, and not something found in nature or provided by "the Almighty God" - except indirectly, perhaps. I don't have a problem with hybridized foods (although GMOs give me cause for pause) - selective breeding is something humans have done for millennia. What's wrong about this is the assumption (incorrect, at that) that God has provided this fruit in its particular form for the consumption of man. He didn't, and it isn't. It's the result of careful cultivation by people.
And it's all perhaps going away. The Cavendish banana may fall victim to a very-much God produced fungus (called poetically Tropical Race 4). So, which is it? Does God love us and provide delicious bananas perfectly shaped, packaged, and nutritionally beneficial and tasty? And then create a fungus that attacks only said delicious banana? If the banana is a representation of God's love, is the fungus a representation of His righteous indignation? Have we brought this calamity on ourselves due to our rejection of His glorious creations? Luckily there are more than one variety of banana available, and not all are susceptible to the fungus. Some are red. Some are meant to be eaten green. Some are a little less sweet. But never fear: banana splits are not going away. :)
Thank God.
PS - for a story on the fungus, here's a link to NPR:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/01/11/462375558/our-favorite-banana-may-be-doomed-can-new-varieties-replace-it
I find it amusing for several different reasons, not all of which are necessarily polite. ;)
But here's the thing about bananas - in particular, these Cavendish bananas: they're all clones of one another, carefully selected for their characteristics (length, shelf-life, taste, etc) by human beings and perpetuated just as carefully to ensure those characteristics continue in each successive strain. It's a cultivar - a cultivated variety, and not something found in nature or provided by "the Almighty God" - except indirectly, perhaps. I don't have a problem with hybridized foods (although GMOs give me cause for pause) - selective breeding is something humans have done for millennia. What's wrong about this is the assumption (incorrect, at that) that God has provided this fruit in its particular form for the consumption of man. He didn't, and it isn't. It's the result of careful cultivation by people.
And it's all perhaps going away. The Cavendish banana may fall victim to a very-much God produced fungus (called poetically Tropical Race 4). So, which is it? Does God love us and provide delicious bananas perfectly shaped, packaged, and nutritionally beneficial and tasty? And then create a fungus that attacks only said delicious banana? If the banana is a representation of God's love, is the fungus a representation of His righteous indignation? Have we brought this calamity on ourselves due to our rejection of His glorious creations? Luckily there are more than one variety of banana available, and not all are susceptible to the fungus. Some are red. Some are meant to be eaten green. Some are a little less sweet. But never fear: banana splits are not going away. :)
Thank God.
PS - for a story on the fungus, here's a link to NPR:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/01/11/462375558/our-favorite-banana-may-be-doomed-can-new-varieties-replace-it
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