<< Therefore, the idea that evolution drives speciation is, at best, a theory. >>
This is the eternal last best hope of creationists, and it betrays their total and absolute scientific illiteracy and ignorance. The word "theory" in scientific parlance is a technical term. It does not mean what it does in everyday speech. We've had this discussion before, and there is nothing I can add to it, but the "theory" of evolution is not a guess. No reputable scientist has any doubt that evolution occurs; the arguments today center mostly on the mechanism and the rate. We are seeing evolution in action: the average height of a human being keeps increasing. Where this will lead, no one knows. Recorded history is a few thousand years old; that's almost nothing in geologic time. You can't argue with a creationist; his mind is made up and he is not interested in learning how to think scientifically. But be kind to the poor fellow - his worldview is so fragile that he must defend it with increasing frenzy lest he have to admit he might be wrong and God did not create the world in seven days 6000 years ago (or whenever it was supposed to happen) and therefore his religious beliefs might not be 100% right in every single detail. It's not easy being a fundamentalist cretin. Tom Beck "I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I didn't realize I'd also see the last." - Jerry Pournelle
