Evolution Theory and evolution are not the same thing. Evolution (big E) is the theory of origins; a study on history. Evolution (little e) is a study of biology. Creationism and evolution (little e) are incomparable. Creationism and Evolution (big E) are in the same bucket. I don't care to argue the fact of evolution. Yes, genetics change with environmental pressures. Hard to deny that. I do care to argue the Theory of Evolution on Origins. I don't think it stands up to scrutiny. Be back soon.
@BruceAlderman Evolution (big E) is the theory that all or most life on Earth evolved (little e) into its present state. Evolution (big E) is an historical theory; it cannot be tested or proven any more than Columbus was a real person and visited the Americas. Archaeology may support history or not; other sciences can weigh in with the facts available, but you cannot scientifically prove an event of history. Much like in court you cannot scientifically prove somebody committed a crime.
I suppose if we could gain all the bodies of all the dead species ever, we could scientifically prove Evolution as fact with genetic testing of the dead tissues; we could determine the children and parents of every creature and demonstrate whether they changed significantly or not. Alas, that will not happen. So we are best to think about Evolution as an historical theory with a slight edge.
That edge being Paleontology, which is actually just Archaeology in a different wrapper. Evolution (big E) hangs on the fossil record and the Earth being old. If either cannot provide support for Evolution then Evolution should be reexamined or even abandoned.
@fredsbend That's not realistic. By that standard, we'd have to throw out Newton's law of universal gravity, because we can't measure the amount of attractive force that every single point mass in the universe exerts on every other point mass.
In reality, science works by noticing a pattern, forming a hypothesis, then looking for additional evidence that will either confirm or refute the hypothesis. If new evidence disconfirms the hypothesis, it's time to make a new one.
However, evolution by means of natural selection has been observed, and continues to be observed, all over the world. The age of the earth has been confirmed through independent lines of evidence.
We are best to think of Evolution (big E, by your classification) as a historical fact--as well as an ongoing fact, because speciation events are still occurring.
