My question is: Is it claimed that mutations in and of themselves play a beneficial part in evolution?
I know this is directed at cofty, but this question makes no damn sense. Mutations in and of themselves? I don't understand what that means.
read my post, it's a very simple concept. You're looking for specificicity that even if is provided you won't understand. But unlike religion you need not take it on faith. It's the beautiful thing about science, as Neil Tyson is known to say, it's true whether you believe it and understand or not. It's observable in nature, reliable predictions about our world can be made based on it and have been.