If evolution is so settled (and it is), why the continual fracas? For an answer, we turn to Darwin's beloved geology professor, Adam Sedgwick of Cambridge University. On reading Origin of Species, Sedgwick, a devout Christian, wrote to Darwin:

This view of nature you have stated admirably (is) admitted by all naturalists & denied by no one of common sense. ... (But) the crown & glory of organic science that it does ... link material to moral ... Were it possible (which thank God it is not) to break it, humanity in my mind, would suffer a damage that might brutalize it--& sink the human race into ... degradation.

There you have it: the elemental fear that belief in evolution will cause morality to collapse. That fear is predicated on a powerful assumption: that morality comes to us from God via religion. This is false. It is demonstrably false.

...

These go beyond human universals. Experiments with Capuchin monkeys show that they have a sense of fairness. If one is offered a lesser treat than his neighbor, he screams with outrage. On the softer side, experiments show that even the lowly vole will comfort a grieving companion -- something dolphins, elephants, and others are also known to do.