What's so special about being human?

I have to own up: I am biased. We have three cats and I think God cocked it up. He should have stopped evolution when it created cats. Now that's opened a can of worms. God, evolution and cats. 

A whole lot of the world put their faith in a god. A load of people don't just have one god but many. Their god(s) determine the course of history - many feel that walking with their god(s) is what we humans were created to do. My Islamic friend is quite happy to hand over the running of his life to Allah. If anything goes wrong he will say "What can I do?" That innocent question supported by his unshakeable faith completely blunts any of my "Well you could have done this, or that, have you thought of this?" 

At the risk of appearing anti- Islamic I can't understand that a religion/movement that in its early days not only overthrew many bloated regimes but had the most enquiring scientific minds has become so un questioning. It's frightening that many Islamic states have  embraced Western comforts yet at the same time deny the very ideas and freedoms that  have given them Western wealth and advantages. That, of course, includes China which seems to have wonderfully finessed their deep culture  with western materialism and consumerism.

Evolution is a puzzle to me. This is my quandary. Just look at the world, its diversity, the complexity, its awe inspiring wonderness. Emotionally and intellectually I find it difficult to believe that such amazing multiplicity is driven by a simple rule: survival of the fittest and adaptation on a gigantic scale. Yet as a person wedded to the scientific imperative I have difficulty in explaining my wonderment without recourse to Darwin.

Let me talk about cats. I have no difficulty in believing early man saw this svelte, nimble creature as something to own. Besides being great at killing vermin, they were soft, companionable ( to a degree) and beautiful. What in our parallel evolutionary paths brought us to seeing a cat and wanting it! I look at our cats and I can't think of a world without these small, furry, killers. I find it difficult to believe all my sense and feeling about moggies is due to evolutionary happenstance -  but accept it I must. Otherwise I'm entertaining ideas of a supra being organising things so that inevitably a feline and I are attracted.

Actually when it comes to cats I'm not far from my very religious Muslim friend. With cats and my love and fascination with them all I can say is "What can I do?"