Evolution

   Next time I debate a catholic on evolution, I'm going to use an example he can't argue with. The catholic church itself. Although my my kids will tell you I was around when dirt was invented, I'm really not that old. But when I think about the changes since I was a boy, I just have to shake my head.

   Mass used to be said in Latin. Women were required to cover their heads in church. Meat was forbidden every Friday, not just during lent. You were forbidden from touching the communion host with your hands. Lay people did not assist with mass. Priests and nuns did not wear civilian (for want of a better term) clothes.

   The mass itself has changed several times, adding and dropping elements along with changing the wording of prayers and responses. Lay people now  read scriptures and assist with distributing communion.

   There used to be a place called limbo, where unbaptized babies went if they died. I'm not sure if they've closed purgatory though, which is where you went if you were not quite evil enough for hell and not good enough for heaven. A kind of half-way house for souls.

   My point is that the catholic church has changed quite a bit just since I was a boy. The church has evolved for the same reason all creatures do. To adapt to the environment in order to survive and flourish.