Orthodox Darwinism is dead. Neo-Darwinism, as postulated by the late Stephen Jay Gould, asserts that life began in a series of fit and start events, with new species coming seemingly out of nowhere and then the ecosystems settle down for a long period of time in a state of equilibrium. Then as if out of nowhere, entire species die off and there's another ecosystem born. In the face of these developments, you have "punctuated equilibrium." It reorders classical Darwinism by realizing the idea of gradual and transitional change is complete nonsense. And yet, evolutionary theory, while spectacular at explaining the
processes of life and how living things adapt to their environment, has failed to achieve the task Darwin set out in his famous work: to explain the
origin of life. Life did not just begin to be out of nothing; its very existence is a miracle that defies the laws of random chance. If we leave the naturalist framework of biological science, we are forced to admit there must be an Intelligent Designer. The existence of such a phenomena cannot be adequately explained by the process framework posited by evolution. The theory has changed and enlarged our appreciation for the wonders of the natural world. But it cannot explain how that world came into being in the first place.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus