Atheists in the Pub-Chuck D. Birthday Bash Edition

No! Not that Chuck D. I'm talkin' about the OG of biological science, the dude only creationists think is a Public Enemy. Old Chuck's 1859 bestseller put the righteous hurt on a whole bunch of religious creation myths and set a lot minds on paths to more rational thinking. Every day, new discoveries in life science validate and expand the precepts Chuck and his buddy, Wallace, first set forth in that arguably less enlightened time. Advances in biology flowing in significant part from Chuck's courageous and scholarly Theory (with a capital T) have banished the scourge of horrible diseases, fed untold millions who would otherwise have starved and promise spectacular new achievements in alleviating human suffering. Yet, in the face of this triumph of reason, upwards of 40% of the U.S. population still insists that a guy in the sky gives us all that's good and wholesome, and that Chuck's just a bunch of hype promoted by liberal elites. (At least one such delusional was apparently recently elected to the Albany Common Council! Go figure.) To resolve this dissonance, it's our solemn civic duty to pub-licly come together and raise a glass to the great man. And where better to do it than Brown's, where selectively cultivated barley, hops and yeast come together to produce yet another fine demonstration of the breeder's art that first got Chuck thinking? So let it be drinks at the bar starting at 5:30 and an adjournment upstairs an hour later, for dinner off the menu. Later on, in recognition that Chuck inspired ZZ Top to grow their beards, we'll have a cake with 201 candles on it. OK, I made that last part up, but it's still gonna be fun.