>I do believe that humanity is distinguished from animals and plants.

Yes, but this leaves the question: were we distinguished naturally, via evolution/natural selection or other means, or did we have to achieve our distingiushment supernaturally?

>Whether that is because of "the atom bomb" or "God" is not the point,

But I think it is the point. How can we determine where our "specialness" comes from if we cannot even determine how we are special?

>the fact is that we are distinguished and shouldn't have to "prove" that we have attributes not possessed by beetles and shrubs.

"We are special... so special that we don't have to prove that we are special".

I do not understand the logic behind this. Could you explain?

And because I know how much free time you have (we wish), I submit the following articles that I recently came across as something for pondering about.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,335949,00.html

These lengths of wood have a special meaning for Hooven and for science,
especially the stick that's shaped like a divining rod with a crook at the
end. The last time she saw it, in January 1999 in Uganda's Kibale forest, it
was in the hands of a big male chimp called Imoso who was using it to beat
mercilessly a female named Outamba. As a woman, Hooven felt sick at heart at
the violence directed at the smaller chimp. But as a scientist, it
exhilarated her. She had never read about anything like this.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/08/09/crow.betty/index.html

So this bird bends a wire into a hook and uses it to extract food from a container.

The feat, it is said, makes her the first animal other than a human that
has shown a clear understanding of cause and effect, and fashioned a tool
for a specific task using new materials not encountered in the wild