Religion

[Paddy™]

Paddy: Evolution has only ever been a theory...

Ahh, I was afraid you'd say that. The popularly understood definition of the word "theory", and the one which you used just now, is "a hypothesis which has yet to be proven, or for which there is currently insufficient evidence, or something which is flaky and not really true at all". This is not the meaning of the word scientists use:

http://www.wordnik.com/words/theory

Evolution by natural selection is not a mere hypothesis; it's something which is as real, true and scientifically sound as our understanding of the movement of the planets in the solar system or the motion of the tides.

The theory of gravity isn't just a theory, after all. Nor is music theory. Evolution is not a hypothesis, it's as much "a fact" as science can possibly allow for, given its constant vulnerability to revision as new evidence is discovered.

What do you mean "by natural selection"?

Natural selection is the process by which species are chosen (not literally chosen, of course; evolution has no conscious will or design) to survive and reproduce, a process which favours those species which are best able to survive.

Organisms mutate randomly, the vast majority of mutations being detrimental to the species. The mutations which give the species an advantage and a better chance of passing on its genetic material will become the norm of that species, and will thus be "naturally selected". For instance, a giraffe with a short neck won't have as good a chance of surviving and reproducing as one with a long neck, because the longer neck bestows advantages for survival upon the animal. The gene which carries the "longer neck" trait will be passed on because those giraffes with longer necks will reproduce more often.

If you know someone who breeds dogs, or pigeons, or roses, you will see the same process at work. In this case, however, the selection is not "natural"; the traits which are most pleasing to the breeder will be selected for. In nature, the process is unguided.

Evolutionary theory was not born out of a desire to disprove God.