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My response to the ardent evolutionist is, "If you say your ancestors climbed out of a slime pit, I'm inclined to believe you."

If you say your ancestor was made from dirt in one afternoon and was dumb enough to listen to a talking snake ...

... I'm still not sure I believe you. But it makes it easier to live with being from the slime pit.

Whether from a slime pit or from a lump of dirt, the main difference is that the "slime pit" advocates largely remove God from the process, and that's the whole point of this discussion. There was another thread on FR yesterday about the "DiVinci Code" and my comment there was that the reason "Code" has sold 20 million copies worldwide is not that it's a "great read" (there are many "great reads" out there that don't sell 20 million copies worldwide), but that "Code" gives people comfort in their unbelief. It's largely the same thing with strident evolutionists.

It would be one thing for the proponents of evolution to say, "Well, there are a lot of gaps in the evidence, and we're really not certain that the variety of species rose according to the classic theory of macro evolution, but it's the best thing we have going," but they don't say that. By and large, most evolutionists are strident in their views, and combative in their articulation of those views. It has nothing to do with "science." I think it has to do with the same reason behind the "DiVinci Code"'s popularity -- evolution gives comfort to people in their unbelief and rebellion against God. Now, having said that, I know of sincere Christians who believe in evolution. But most of them struggle to reconcile what they believe about evolution, and what they believe about God.

I know of what I speak, because at one point in my life (in the midst of my college education), I was an ardent believer in evolution. But I've come to see it as an empty husk of a theory, based not on evidence, but on wishful thinking.