Life's rich tapestry

From the New York Times:

Scientists have discovered fossils of a 375-million-year-old fish, a large scaly creature not seen before, that they say is a long-sought missing link in the evolution of some fishes from water to a life walking on four limbs on land.

In two reports today in the journal Nature, a team of scientists led by Neil H. Shubin of the University of Chicago say they have uncovered several well-preserved skeletons of the fossil fish in sediments of former streambeds in the Canadian Arctic, 600 miles from the North Pole...

Other scientists said that in addition to confirming elements of a major transition in evolution, the fossils were a powerful rebuttal to religious creationists, who have long argued that the absence of such transitional creatures are a serious weakness in Darwin's theory.

Now, for as long as I can remember, I've not been a fan of religion. Any. But if there is an omniscient Creator, isn't this amazing discovery actually just one more sign of Her genius to those who do believe? I've never understood the "either/or" nature of the debate between evolution and faith. Church and state, yes. But "Darwin versus God"?

So I ask those sincerely religious Americans that see evolution as an assault on their belief in a higher power, simply, "Why?" And please, none of that "6000 years old" nonsense. Do you really presume to know God's definition of a "day"? Let's face it, if you were sincerely committed to interpreting the Bible literally, you'd wholeheartedly support polygamy, child sacrifice, and slavery - and wouldn't be so adamant about keeping the mall open on the Sabbath!

I mean, think about it - the awe-inspiring wonder of cellular design, the ability of life to change and grow and adapt, the absolute brilliance of a blueprint which allowed a primitive organism that could only communicate in guttural grunts to develop into a thinking, rational being with the intellectual inventiveness to put a man on the moon. If that doesn't verify the existence of forces greater than our ability to comprehend them - whatever one chooses to call it - then I don't know what does.

Besides, that never-ending pattern of genetic improvement always gave me hope that humankind would keep evolving into something still better. Good Lord, we should all hope so. 'Cause it would be depressing to think that we'll forever remain the overwhelmingly petty, partisan, uninformed, violent, divided-by-faithracegender jackasses that roam the Earth today.