>Why do I have to do your homework? I say I'm not certain, you say you >are. That indicates the burden of proof is on your shoulders. Saying "I >don't know" doesn't require a proof. Saying "I do know" does.'

Well, it is you who are calling the scientific community ignorant. A quote for you:

"A few words need to be said about the "theory of evolution," which most people take to mean the proposition that organisms have evolved from common ancestors. In everyday speech, "theory" often means a hypothesis or even a mere speculation. But in science, "theory" means "a statement of what are held to be the general laws, principles, or causes of something known or observed." as the Oxford English Dictionary defines it. The theory of evolution is a body of interconnected statements about natural selection and the other processes that are thought to cause evolution, just as the atomic theory of chemistry and the Newtonian theory of mechanics are bodies of statements that describe causes of chemical and physical phenomena. In contrast, the statement that organisms have descended with modifications from common ancestors--the historical reality of evolution--is not a theory. It is a fact, as fully as the fact of the earth's revolution about the sun. Like the heliocentric solar system, evolution began as a hypothesis, and achieved "facthood" as the evidence in its favor became so strong that no knowledgeable and unbiased person could deny its reality. No biologist today would think of submitting a paper entitled "New evidence for evolution;" it simply has not been an issue for a century."

There are tons of quotes like this, there is simply no doubt about it in the scientific community.
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/evolution-fact.html


>I view the theory of evolution as a partial explanation to one factor >of the very broad question of "Why and how are we here?" Like I said >in my first post - its a piece of a far larger puzzle, one riddled >with complexities and uncertainties. As such, claiming there's one >golden answer to the whole problem to me seems unintuitive and >improbable.

The theory of evolution is not trying to explain that. It simply states that we have a common ancestor and that we have evolved into different species.


>We're adding to the theory of evolution regularly and still looking >for evidence to prove any number of models for the origin of life - >I'd say at this point its fair to say the jury isn't in yet on the >matter.

Yes, the inner mechanics of evolution can change and is changing as people discover more about it. However the overall framework or the fact that evolution happens is never questioned. And origin of life is still not the same subject as evolution... ;-)