BISTON BETULARIA

[Kenelm Philip]

	I can't read Chris Durden's mind at this distance--but I would guess
that when he said "So many naughty things have evolved out there..." he
was not referring to the moral failings of humans. It's more likely he
was referring to the (to our mind) unpleasant ways that so many creatures
make a living. Get yourself a copy of Oldroyd's 'The Natural History of
Flies' for some appalling examples of what creature A can do to creature
B. Or what about the snail parasite that gets eaten by an ant--and then
takes over the ant's brain and makes it climb to the top of a blade of
grass and lock its jaws on the grass and go into a coma--so the ant can
be eaten by a sheep and the parasite can complete its life cycle. I have
no trouble with the idea of this kind of system evolving--but if it were
created by a benevolent God, then his benevolence did not extend to ants,
or sheep.

							Ken Philip
fnkwp at uaf.edu