Paul, my point in quoting Steve's "the searing truth of evolutionary theory" was to point out his ambiguity about whether he is talking about "evolution" or "The Theory of Evolution" and, while I was at it, to illustrate his somewhat evangelical style.

Since you have given a clear description of the distinction between "evolution" and "the theory of evolution", I'm not sure why you describe it as a subtlety that you can't get. They are different things. If I were to jump from the 16th floor, I would be propelled to the ground by gravity. Somebody with less urgent matters on their mind might be able to use the theory of gravity to calculate how long before I splatted on the pavement but it wouldn't be the theory that killed me. Are you suggesting that before 1687 I could have jumped with impunity because there was no theory to tell me I would fall? If you think it's a peccadillo, tell Steve. He was the one who accused me of talking crap for not realising which he was talking about. (As I say above, I'm still not sure which he is talking about and I'm not sure that he is either.)

However, since you mention the Theory of Gravity it gives me a useful opportunity. For a kick off, try "Gravity is true!". Er? What? OK, let's try "the Theory of Gravity is true!". Two problems there 1) the scientific method does not allow you to describe a scientific theory as true which is the point I've been trying to get over for some time and something which Steve himself has stated a couple of times. 2) Newton's Theory of Gravity isn't true. It was superceded in 1916 by Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Unless you happen to be passing near a massive body or travelling at near light speeds they produce indistinguishable results so for all practical purposes Newton's Theory is perfectly usable but it is not TRUE as such. It could be that in the nearly 250 years that it stood unchallenged (rather longer than the Theory of Evolution so far) some enthusiast might have declared "It's true. It just is. Only a bloody creationist twerp would deny gravity." but if they had they would have been speaking no more scientifically than the twerps they were condemning.