Strinsinger - Did I suggest that Darwin didn't appreciate beauty? I'm sure he appreciated it as much as most people do, and more than many do. You ain't gettin' my drift at all, son. ;-) I already know for sure that life is about far more than survival. It's about many things, and survival is just one of them. There are situations where death in the service of others or of a worthy ideal is a far nobler thing than mere survival, and people have always known that. That's why they have heroes like the men at the Alamo or a million other examples of that sort of thing. Even animals will do that, and they will do it for LOVE. Dogs have given their lives in the defence of those they loved. If they were thinking only of survival, they would run away and save themselves.

I put it to you that life is about LOVE more than it is about anything else at all...and I am not talkin' boy-girl romance when I say LOVE, I'm talking about caring for someone else to the point that you will defend them no matter what the cost is to you if the need is truly there. One can also love one's country that way...or one's military unit...or one's friend or children or family...or one's pet. If it's real love, then you will sacrifice on their behalf. If it's not...well, then you'll mainly think just of your own survival.

Mark Twain, by the way, changed his opinion of faith after he spent nine years studying the life of Joan of Arc. You should read his biography of her...you'd be very surprised.