I suspect we agree about much; my point (not particularly well put) was that ToE is indeed empirical, though some seem to demand that ToE produce direct observation of results which in fact require hundreds of millions of years--which is a demand as unreasonable as demanding an empirical proof of God. Neither demand is appropriate, IMHO. It is clear that some folk find a conflict here; I happen to find none. But I do respect views from scientists and laymen alike that are (1) cogently argued and (2) civilly presented, as indeed yours are.