A question to counter one of many dumb arguments

I don't do much atheist ranting here, simply because other bloggers do it so much better than I. With the attention span of a flea, I rarely get past the surface of an argument. This will most likely be the case today as well.

However -- To that well-worn statement from believers who reject evolution because "No way I'm descended from no apes," I have a question.

Believers I've met often seem fond of "the struggle." Doing things the hard way. Suffering now in exchange for a greater reward later. Starting small, coming out way ahead of everybody else.

What greater example of this can we find than the evolutionary process?

I could see believers complaining if there were some other species lording it over us (to coin a phrase), reminding us that we are lowly and insignificant. But no, one of the tenets of western theology in particular is that we are "the crown of creation." We are just "a little lower than the angels."

Funny, isn't it, how believers place humankind only below two entities (God and the angels) that have not been proved even to exist?

Evolution, on the other hand, starts us out as particles of an indeterminate nature and progresses us over billions of years to one-celled organisms to creatures with gills to amphibians to primitive mammals, all the way up to our advanced culture (exemplified by Hannah Montana and the Chia Pet).

Believers, on the other hand, will tell you that we got here by some sort of Harry Potteresque magical process in which Dumblegod (also known as Voldegod when you piss him off) waved a wand over some dirt and transfigured us into 7th-year Gryffindors with a ready-made Order of Merlin First Class.

I personally am proud of my billion-year journey and think it looks a lot better on my resume than "I got here 'cos I knew the right people."

Gotta hit the shower. Have a good day...