Darwin

I see on this post that today is the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of the Species. (I knew it was coming up, but not that it was today.) It seems like a good excuse to post my opinion, not that I really need an excuse. So: I believe in evolution, but not in Evolution. The first, small “e” evolution, is a scientific theory about how over billions of years life has changed and developed through mutations and natural selection. Big “E” Evolution is a religious belief system that life and its diversity comes solely from random mutations and natural selection, and that that’s the complete and sufficient explanation for the whole thing and anyone who doesn’t accept that is ignorant or stupid and should be suppressed. This take on evolution (linked in the comments to the post linked above) is pretty close to mine.

Arthur C. Clarke famously said than any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. I say that God’s “technology” is so advanced it’s almost always indistinguishable from nature taking its course.