Evidence supporting evolution.



When people say “evolution is just a theory” what they mean is that evolution is one possible explanation for how life developed on this planet. The “just a” is often meant to trivialize the idea of evolution. However, a theory is more than a possible explanation or guess. It is a statement backed by large amount of data supporting the claim. Evidence in favor of evolution includes Charles Darwin’s observation of diverse species on the Galapagos Islands.

 

Just because it was said,
does not means it was heard.

The reason I believe people take offense is that evolution is at its core a very secular idea. Traditional religions, Catholicism in particular, are not the most flexible or open to revision. These religions generally believe in creationism, or have some sort of epic story explaining the creation of the world. This does not leave a whole lot of room for “natural selection” or “adaption”. Trying to reconcile the two possible explanations for the beginnings of life on this planet that requires a level of thought most people are not interested in bothering with. Then there is the feeling in both the scientific community and the religious community that each party is attacking the other. This suspicion leads to an ungodly high talking to listening ratio by both parties. (Think of it as yelling so loudly that the other person cannot be heard.) Which, that's right, gets nobody anywhere. It only contributes to the distrust of scientists who are religious, and church-goers that think scientifically. 

Firm religious beliefs and good grasp of evolution are not incompatible or exclusive of each other. If one believes in a higher being, then why not consider that if they viewed time as we do they would not be much of a higher being. So then, if a day is not a day to a higher power, then how about a day being a millennium, or millions of years even. If that is the case evolution would make not necessarily be out of context, since humans generally acknowledge the advancement and shift in the human race why not allow for it elsewhere. If someone believed in a higher power that controls all and cannot be defied, then surely that being must have made allowances for evolution. Or if one should tend towards Deism none of this really matters, because the higher power made the world and saw that it was good, and then promptly left.  In short, evolution does not contradict or support religious beliefs as an obviously secular notion it tried very hard to steer clear of all that commotion. It did not, but evolution was never meant as an alternative belief system. It was meant as just a scientific explanation back by a preponderance of scientific evidence. Those that attempt to “believe” evolution, or legislate on “creationism” fail to understand that this debate has never been about the evidence supporting or undermining evolution. It has always at its core been an argument about how far religious beliefs and secular thought extends into both private and public life. The argument about evolution is a symptom, of an insistence on science and religion maintaining exclusive spheres and never interacting. If science and religion were to acknowledge that each system has a different, but not necessarily wrong view point, then all of this would vanish. Then neither community would feel threatened by the other. People would stop asking nosy questions about people beliefs or thoughts that have nothing to do with passing a science class, presenting evidence in a scientific journal, or showing up to early morning Mass.