Pete from seven stars link: I understand that survival of the fittest means those organisms which inherit adaptions that facilitate their continuence. this may amount to an increase in size and strength etc, or a loss of function, eg a blind fish in a cave may do better that a sighted fish in that environment. does the phrase not equate to "...preservation of favoured races"?

Here we go again, with Pete slyly implying the old creationist chestnut "Darwin was a racist".

Was Darwin racist? Well, by 21st century standards, possibly yes. But by the standards of his own age, much less so than most, including the vast majority of devout christians.

He was banned from Captain Fitzroy's Mess on the Beagle for arguing that slavery was racist and unjust. Fitzroy argued strongly that slavery and racism were both justified by the scriptures, and therefore "holy". Fitzroy's views were much more representative of the period than were Darwin's.

The friend at college who taught Darwin taxidermy was black, and he also made great friends with the Fuegan on the beagle, Jeremy Button. He also points out that the rebelling slaves he encountered in Brazil were "mentally and tactically as capable as the greatest of Roman generals".

Darwin's family ( he was connected to the Wedgewoods and Wilberforces) put a great deal of money and effort into abolition of slavery, and his writings at the time show clearly that he agreed with this.

The "quote-mining" that creationists use, such as his comment that "At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world." fail to see the full context of his point. Such quotes are produced as evidence of Darwin's *approval* of the situation, whereas he's actually just describing *objectively* what to him seems an inevitable outcome.