umm sorry to interject (and with respect to all parties/faiths)
Common opinion that crosses represent the medical field comes from the fact that the Red Cross uses the symbol. This is because the founder of the organisation is Swiss and derived the logo from his national flag... Not really a religious thing because the Red Cross has also employed the crescent as its symbol in addition to the cross.
The actual symbol for medicine is the Rod of Asclepius but due to it's similarity to the Caduceus and a century of American incompetence - the Caduceus is now a more prominent symbol for Western healing but it's technically not correct.
And once again with all due respect - RAP is a medicinal diagnostic tool...to suggest an undercurrent of religious influence within medicine may be applicable at times in this century but let us not forget the persecution of scientists throughout history... The Roman inquisition charged Galileo with heresy and he died under house arrest... Any practitioner of medicine or even a field associated with medicine would have studied a modicum of history during their first year uni Bio classes. And we have found that religion and science are often at odds with each other. I look forward to the day that they will exist side by side with little acrimony but it seems that's still a while off... I hope no one takes offense (off-topic yes and for that I apologise).
now that I've bored everyone to sleep - a belated Merry Christmas to all you guys
what's everyone doing on NYE?
