It’s not provocative at all — Neanderthal isn’t halfway between human and chimp. Claiming otherwise is in fact something creationists cling to, the same way Virchow (probably the originator of the first campaign to dump on Neanderthal fossils) clung to a series of escalating false claims.
Here’s something perhaps you hadn’t read, even though it’s in the same thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2314370/posts?page=29#29
It was calling creationists stupid that I found provocative. I’m still waiting for you to cite specific examples so we can get to the bottom of who is (and who is not) stupid. And since you called creationists stupid in relation to Neanderthals, let us begin right there. Please be specific, and be sure to cite your sources.
Did you read the links in wendy's post 27?
Why are you seeming to lay at the feet of the creationists this concept that Neanderthals are halfway between chimps and humans when it started with the scientists?
It wouldn't make sense for creationists to *cling* to it because in general, creationists don't believe that man evolved from some ape like ancestor to begin with, so Neanderthal couldn't possibly be half way between chimp and man. It just might be more similar to man than chimp, but it can't be halfway between something (chimp) and nothing (since man didn't evolve).