Michael Z, thanks for sharing Steve Martin's brilliant wit with us.

I penned a song a Decade-ago..."Honk If You Love Atheists"...& the best verse goes...

"But I think God is Non-Denominational
He Speaks Swahili and Persian..too
& The Atheists He sent are Motivational
If they get to Heaven..It Ain't Up to You..."

Being a Deist, primarily, I used to whup Christians a lot for what the Early Church did to Galileo & other Early Scientists..& other Victims of The Inquisition. (And I'm still peeved at the Catholic Church for shielding Child-Molesting Priests for so many years, too...and for their resistance to allowing Birth Control in Impoverished 3rd World Countries...particularly in the Amazon Rain Forest Areas...)

But, for every child molesting priest, there's more-than-several Mother Theresas. Christians do a lot More Good around this planet beyond just distributing Bibles. Many risk their lives..Doing the Right Things. Some even die for it..& for them, especially, Yeah, I hope there's a Heaven.

My Math-Professor Science-Oriented Uncle is a confirmed Atheist...& nearing the end of his life span. His answer to a question I posed him when we were both younger, "What's the mathematical model of the Universe?" got me the very-poetic Answer "A Fold in Nothingness"...which to-this-day kinda REQUIRES "The Hand of God"...to my mind...still hasn't convinced him a bit. So..I hope someday my Mentor in Life'll have a Big, Pleasant Surprise waiting for him..down that Tunnel of Light.

I don't care for or about a lot of Religious Mumbo-Jumbo, I'll take the good ol' Golden Rule: "Do Unto Others as You'd Have Them Do Unto You"...which prolly came outta the King James version of the Bible...(& I, for one, kinda Hate the Ancient English in it...tho I KNOW there are Updated-Lingo Versions available.) Anyways, that slogan's about as Good as It Gets, for a Morality Template, & well-worth upholding.

"Religion" is where Ya add-in Benefits-and-Withdrawals for Good or Bad Following..of the Above Parable. But I can see where Big Jim's coming from, as far as ethics goes.

As far as Evolution goes...Mz Caroline...Science is busy these days mapping our DNA..& seeing where various Branches of Humans originated. &..seems most of it came from Africa, originally, then covered the globe. As far as Primate Skeletons go, the most-primitive forms are in some of the deepest Strata...ya just dig deeper..& Voila..there preserved life forms get earlier-&-earlier...what a Coincidence, eh?

MUCH further-back, skeletons don't even have Backbones. Theory was, they originated in Fish...to help them swim against currents..which brought food down off the land masses..even Prior to animals living on land. (I.E.--there weren't LEGS developed yet.) There were fossils of such an early fish..the Coelacanth...dating back 350 million years ago, & thought to be extinct for 65 million years. Then..in l938...a fisherman caught one...Alive..somewhere in the Indian Ocean. They've been found to number around 500 still-living-today...an Endangered Species that may die out in our lifetimes.

But...every surviving species HAS to have something "Going for it" Genetically..& Structurally--or..it ends up as Food for some other Smarter, Faster, More-Numerous Species that survives-better.

Well, Coelacanths have one of the first Backbones Mother Nature ever cooked-up. SO early it's not really a Bone...yet. It's an oil-filled-tube...that creates an early "Spine" in the critter.

Allowing it to overcome strong-ish currents. It lives at great depths...600-feet-Plus..&..has the ability to slow its metabolism Wayyy-Down..enabling it to survive in cold & oxygen depleted waters longer than many-a-predator.

&..bonewise, it shows traces of legs developing where its fins touch the ground, too... (Dolphins are supposedly descended from Dogs which returned to the water...& have vestigal hind legs, too!) Check the teeth rows in Flipper...and Yukon King...Look-Familiar???

Yep, "Only the Strong Survive"...applies both to Organisms and Religions. &..heh..Both are Still-Evolving.

Best Wishes,
Stan