1. What Evolution is NOT!

2. It is NOT a fact… It is NOT a fact… (its a theory: a highly probable explanation affecting all biological phenomena, with much supporting evidence, and NO evidence against it)

3. It is NOT something one should believe in… It is NOT something one should believe in… (its based on science, not faith)

4. It is NOT just concerned with the origin of humans… It is NOT just concerned with the origin of humans… (no more nor less than any other species)

5. It was NOT discovered or first explained by Charles Darwin… It was NOT discovered or first explained by Charles Darwin… (many other people proposed the general idea long before Darwin did)

6. It is NOT the same as natural selection… It is NOT the same as natural selection… (natural selection deals with how evolution can take place; this idea was first proposed by Charles Darwin)

7. It is NOT something which happened only in the past… It is NOT something which happened only in the past… (its still going on…)

8. It is NOT something which happens to individuals… It is NOT something which happens to individuals… (it happens to popultions)

9. It is NOT an accidental random process… It is NOT an accidental random process… (there are built-in limits and constraints; it is influenced by both historical circumstances and environmental factors)

10. It was NOT developed to undermine religion… It was NOT developed to undermine religion… (rather it was developed to explain observations of life in a testable way. In fact, it grew out of efforts to better understand Gods creation, by very religious people)

11. It does NOT deny the existence of God… It does NOT deny the existence of God… (It is neutral; God is neither required nor eliminated, your choice, based on your beliefs)

12. It does NOT conflict with any religion… It does NOT conflict with any religion… (It cant, since it is only another way of trying to understand the natural world using the rules of science. Any apparent conflict can always be traced to misunderstanding of science, evolution or your religion)

13. What Evolution Is!

14. Evolution is essentially the idea that new species develop from earlier species by accumulated changes. This is sometimes referred to as descent with modification

15. By extensions, as this process of speciation proceeds with time, increasing numbers of species appear, becoming increasingly different.

16. All the species we see today are like the growing tips of a branching tree: close cluster of tips have most recently branched (evolved); more distant tips must be traced to much lower (earlier) branching in the tree.

17. What we call a genus would be a close cluster of tips. The family level of classification (which may include several genera) refers to a group of several closely branched clusters. And so on.

18. The idea of evolution was developed from many observations of life. It has been tested and challenged many times and in many ways, and has survived in great shape.

19. There are also many independent lines of evidence which are consistent with evolution as a real process.

20. There is NO observed evidence against evolution. Evolution therefore holds the high status of near certainty: it is a scientific theory.