At duelity.net, the Vancouver Film School presents a pair of beautiful animations that illustrate two opposing theories of the origins of life, evolution and creationism.
View the videos
here.
I want to stress that the theory of evolution is a scientific one, supported by evidence gathered from the natural world. Creationism is a religious doctrine; it is substantiated not by scientific data but by Christian belief.
The conflict between science and religion, I think, arises when one discipline infringes upon the boundaries of the other. Science -- because of its inability to gather data beyond the natural world -- should not make any claims about the existence or non-existence of God. Religion -- because of its inability to discredit scientific theories based on rigorous data -- should not make any claims about the validity of the theory of evolution.
Science can not tell you that you do not have a soul, or that God does not exist. Likewise, religion can not tell you that the world is flat or that humans did not share a common ancestor with other primates. To avoid conflict, keep the areas of expertise between the two disciplines distinct. For I believe there should be room for both science and religion in a moral, rational, and free-thinking human being.
The elephant shrew, above, is more closely related to elephants than rodents.
