Watchmaker says God's a lefty

Over the centuries the Bible has been used to prove a lot of things, so it may be no surprise that Tom Payne quotes it to prove God is left-handed.

Payne may not be objective. He's a lefty and says a disproportionate number of other watchmakers are as well.

Reading the Book of Genesis tell about God separating night from day, Payne pictures a divine hand reaching out to grab the top of the Earth and set it spinning, so that the Earth's surface would spend some time facing the sun and some time in darkness.

And because the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, that had to be God's left hand. A right-hander, Payne demonstrates, would likely have spun the globe in the opposite direction.

Payne doesn't know how many times he's told the story, but the best response came from a woman in one audience, who, after hearing Payne's claim that God spun the Earth, responded, "Yeah? What else did She do?"

Jack Broom, Seattle Times staff reporter