Quote Originally Posted by Jew and Greek View Post
Evolution (Darwinian evolution anyway, which is what most people mean when they use the word) is the belief that life began by random chance when the right chemical compounds came together billions of years ago to create the first single celled microbe which eventually evolved into all of the life forms that we see today. This is the basis for the belief in intelligent life and advanced civilizations throughout the galaxy. Natural selection (aka Survival of the fittest) is the mechanism through which evolution supposedly occurred. There is no question that natural selection is a valid process. We can observe mutation occurring in viruses and various life forms that brings about adaptation within the species. The question is whether or not natural selection can produce macro-evolution (going from one species to another) rather than simple micro-evolution (adaptation within the species). But more importantly, as was pointed out in the video by Stephen Meyers, does the idea that a single celled organism can form by random chance even pass the giggle test in the first place?
The first thing you referred to is properly called "the Theory of Evolution" which is an atheistic theory, atheism in -> atheism out. It basically forces everything to be in line with its basic premise of atheism. It also excludes any interference by intelligent lifeforms that originate from a different planet - which could have been the case even if atheism had been the truth. So its basic premise is that no intelligent beings (whether God or extraterrestrials) have interfered with the process at any point.

Evolution can refer to a number of processes involved including "macro-evolution" or speciation, which again can have various definitions. The belief that God started the natural processes may include that he created a lot more than just a few microbes to set things off. He may also have supervised things along the way after initial creation.