I'll put on my helmet and body armor and be right with you, today let's talk evolution. Guns down please! Never before in human history has an issue been so divisive between the theological and secular communities except maybe when Copernicus postulated the earth revolves around the sun instead of the other way around. Why that's blasphemy! How could God stop the sun if it was the earth turning? And how then could Joshua finish the battle of Jericho?

The theological community and the scientific community look at the world through two different keyholes, the scientific community is seek explanations to things it doesn't yet understand while the theological community believes they have all the understandings they need already spelled out for them. One is seeking a sojourn while the other has already arrived, how then can we bridge the gap and seek an accommodation? I guess by proof positive of evolution, all right then I'll prove it to you!

Archaeologists tell us that Homo sapiens evolved from lower forms of apes and the most distinct changes that occurred in our genetic make up is our large brain. They tell us this with the enthusiasm of a hometown fan while as Mark Twain lamented Christians of his time saying, "Man is the most noble work of God" to which Twain responded " Now I wonder who figured that out?" So you see we are not as far apart as you might speculate, the ego of both communities to insist that we humans are the grandest of them all. Apparently humbleness is not a trait that is genetic nor Godly inspired and while much admired is not much encouraged by either camp.

The archaeologists lead us through the steps of evolutionary theory and at every level the previous species died out either due to climatic changes or loss of food source or that they were unable to cope and failed as a species by not being intelligent enough to find a solution. Or perhaps more telling maybe its demise was caused by its new neighbor homo sapiens for only God himself with the great flood has wiped out more species than the Homo Sapiens

From the religious community a belief, in the inspired word of God and what does that word say about the eventual end to Homo sapiens? We will destroy ourselves in a titanic cataclysm of fire, Sounds pretty logical so far. But why would we do that? To the Judao Christian community it is original sin the plucking of the fruit from the tree of knowledge. The scientists say that Homo sapiens thrived in this world because of their large brain capacity but that deep down inside it is still the brain of and ape only improved upon.

So there we are the human family is shackled with these two matching tethers, either original sin or the umbilical ties to our simian ancestor. Religious people are appalled at such notions to have arisen from a lowly ape. Yet God is said to have created the heavens and the universe all things together so to disparage the ape is to disparage God and we must remember that no one has asked the apes their opinion on this. While science claims no special favoritism it wastes no time explaining how far superior our brains are to those of our nearest relatives. All the way around the block they go right back to ego, to be the child of God to understand God by virtue of our big brain or divine inspiration?

By virtue of our big brain or by Gods choice we have been given dominion over the earth, but our knowledge isn't however a single beam of light it must be diffused through a prism to see its many aspects and colors, the prose of Shakespeare the insights of Einstein the humanity of Twain and the trepidation of Oppenhiemer verses the savagery of Genghis Kahn or our own crusades the abomination of Hitler, Pol Pot and Stalin. I ask you honestly, as a species or as a religious being of holy making are we making any progress here at all?

We are almost one hundred years from the war to end all wars; yet how naive was that notion? We are fifty years from the capability to wipe out life on the planet but our religious side drove us to create a United Nations for the sake and salvation of mankind. While the big brained apes attempt to use it as an organ of the palace for intrigue. Despite our half a century of nuclear experience does the desire to threaten the use such weapons thrive or has our holy godly side rose up demanded no more!

The exploits of the truly humane live in our memory only temporarily they are revered and idolized but rarely imitated. While generals and war heroes exploits never fade, Hannibal, Rommel, Patton, Stonewall Jackson or Robert E Lee our fascination would appear to be generated the desire to be the alpha male ape. The alpha male gets his choice of food and females and accommodations, sort of lifestyles of the rich and famous for apes. In our worldly society we seek power and money to imatate the alpha male our society however is not about physical prowess but the mental prowess because of our big brain.

All the religions of the world have their truly devout followers and they have my undying respect for they are salmon swimming upstream. In our American society filled with rampant consumerism and media attention of the superficial the trivial down to the nonsensical and foolish. Jay lo and Kobe and Tom Cruise and American Idol but who wrote the last great novel? Who will write the next To Kill a Mockingbird or Grapes of Wrath? It would appear from that standpoint that we have reached peak humanity that very technology which we regale has in fact put us into decline that all of our smart machines are making us stupid again yet our only toehold on evolutionary supremacy is our big brain.

Religious orders of all stripe say renounce the world and come unto us and that is wonderful but it won't work for the society as a whole, for our capitalist economy is in direct conflict with Christian aspirations. Could you imagine religious leaders asking corporations to pay higher wages and healthcare because it was the right thing to do? Capitalism thrives on the nature of the monkey wanting all the bananas even though he knows he can't eat them all he wants them all just the same. All the religions of the world order and command that the wealthy care for the poor even if it takes all of their wealth to do so, but all offer an escape clause that any retribution which God may so choose to take will be somewhere down the road. It would seem that even if humans did not evolve from apes lawyers most certainly did for this is legalese at its finest point.

We hear and use the term Christian society or religious society and we are all well aware of what is meant by that, either it was better or would be better if the religious were put in charge. But how do apes manage their societies? As I've stated apes have an alpha male in charge, the position goes to the male ape who makes the loudest and most aggressive display it has nothing to do with intelligence or big brains just brute force and showmanship. What does this point to in our human politics? Do we flock to the most compassionate candidates expressing a love of God and a desire to share the bounty of earth? Or do we support the ape who makes the loudest and most aggressive display that has nothing to do with intelligence or big brains just brute force and showmanship.

I find the results humbling indeed for the answer is embarrassing regardless of your affiliation. Perhaps the science community could learn something from the religious community perhaps our specisial rating shouldn't be by food chain but by moral chain. And perhaps by the acknowledgement of this revelation the religious community could use it more and point to it less. For if we rated ourselves by our moral nourishment instead of caloric I fear our eyes would strain to see the top of the ladder.

But I said proof didn't I? Evolutionary theory says that a species must have the ability to adapt and change to survive and that either overpopulation or fouling its environment will doom that species to decline and eventual extinction in fact science uses as a benchmark of intelligence whether a species fouls it nest. Throughout human history societies have fallen and disappeared due to both causes. Science tells us our planet is fast approaching critical mass through over fishing, pollution, global warming and a depleted ozone layer. Now fellow big brained Homo sapiens why did all our processors die off? Perhaps our big brain wasn't all it was cracked up to be? Not enough perhaps to make the cut on the evolutionary team.

Either sin or simian neither side can claim victory here, as an evolutionary species we are a failure and Darwinism merely points out why. As God inspired holy creatures the results are just a disappointing, we are a failure and religious texts merely points out why. I am always amused by the end timers who want to bring about the conditions for the return of Jesus to me it's as crazy as the guy that shot the President to impress Jody Foster. Or if I wanted to meet Tom Cruise I'll burn down his house! The end timers will be over joyed to meet Jesus but I fear it will be a pretty one sided conversation. Maybe God has already written us off like Adam and Eve a failure, not banished from the garden but by our destroying the garden by ourselves. Maybe we should have done some shopping before eating from the tree of knowledge and looked instead for the tree of wisdom because wisdom doesn't come with a big brain.