Natural selection is certainly real, but it has zero creative power. It can only select from what already exists. Usually the actual creative mechanism is assumed to be random genetic mutations. But where has anyone observed mutations changing one kind of animal into a new more advanced kind? In reality mutations are destructive to genetic information, and over long timescales cause devolution. As more mutations are inherited, genetic disorders and diseases will increase. To learn more about this I recommend reading the book "
Genetic Entropy" by Cornell University geneticist Dr. John Sanford.
I strongly disagree that it's thought-terminating to believe that God designed the universe and living things. This understanding will lead scientists to study the genius constructions, techniques, and formulas that God used in order to improve our own machines and inventions. In contrast, the belief that living things evolved by chance may cause scientists to dismiss something they don't understand as a useless evolutionary leftover, rather than studying it further to find its actual purpose (e.g. the appendix). Thus evolutionary assumptions retard scientific progress.