Nicely stated.You don't want to fight? However this is a very contentious issue for many. It is also an issue which for many is already decided by their religious affiliation or lack thereof. The way you stated your post suggests you are already very much decided.
The theory of evolution is, like the theory of gravity, a way to explain ourselves and the flora and fauna around us, both how they have come to be in their present diverse form and how we can predict their future. It is observable but is obviously a slow process. Not a "fast food" theory. At the very simplest, it lays out the logic of natural selection, that if you have a heritable trait (which may arise through mutation over time) and it confers greater survival, you will then be able to pass that trait on to more offspring. It makes sense when one looks at genetics and mutation rates over time. To understand further back in terms of origins, it helps to have an understanding of cell and molecular biology.
Beyond that, to who created the universe, who knows? I don't think we'll ever really know. I think it's crazy for people to claim they know. I accept there's a lot I will never know on this earth. Thankfully, I learned everything I need to know about chickens so far on BYC.
The Beak of the Finch is a good read I recall from college. Illustrative and interesting. But I'm guessing you were looking for a feisty thread.
Me too.
As for the Neanderthals....Thomas H Huxly said they belonged to people and did not prove evolution. Rudolph Virchow, a German anatomist, said the bones were those of modern men afflicted with rickets and arthritis. Many scientists today recognize that they had bowed legs due to rickets caused by lack of sunlight.
