Only 4 in 10 Americans believe in evolution?

What does this say about the nation?

http://sas-origin.onstreammedia.com/origin/gallupinc/GallupSpaces/Production/Cms/POLL/lvtmmfl19eqfl0cpgxojzw.gif

The gallup poll shows that those who are more educated, are much less likely to believe in creation and much more likely to believe in evolution.

Does this mean that the public education system in the US is failing? Especially since evangelicalism (Christian fundamentalism) in the US has increased by 6% in the past 8 years?

http://sas-origin.onstreammedia.com/origin/gallupinc/GallupSpaces/Production/Cms/POLL/8lq5cexcd0gqh3ld9p6q9q.gif

Those with only a high school education are more likely to not even know what scientific theory is associated with Darwin.

Do you think the US needs to overhaul its public education system? The rest of the western world is becoming more secular/non-religious while the US is becoming more religious.

2009-02-11T23:25:17Z

How can you say that creation (which is the belief that a God created people 6000 years ago) has nothing to do with religion?

2009-02-11T23:40:14Z

Gravity is also just a theory.
Evolution has mountains worth of evidence. Saying it's untrue just because it's a "theory" is asinine.

2009-02-11T23:44:19Z

Practicial Trig Help 101: http://www.gallup.com/poll/114544/Darwin-Birthday-Believe-Evolution.aspx

How do you not know about Gallup? It has been around for well over 50 years.

2009-02-11T23:48:36Z

"do you really believe in evolution or just adaptation. Most people including Darwin himself believed in adaptation not some crazy complete overhaul of a species into another. Darwin's belief was twisted by you guessed it the politicians of his time to say what it does now. By his death he didn't even believe what everyone was saying he taught.

I believe in Creationism as i am a Christian. But i believe God created us to be able to adapt to our situation."

Buddy, you have no idea what you're talking about. Darwin didn't believe in evolution? What a joke. You should only answer a question if you know what you're talking about.

2009-02-11T23:56:28Z

"ow could you actually say that the government has been taken over by religious people when the country was founded by religious people. If anything the country has been moving away from the morals the church has set forth for us to live by. Call me biased but i see how much better things are now (said sarcastically)."

Most of the founding fathers were Deists, not Christians. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin are the more well known ones.

The US was not originally a "Christian" nation. The US didn't become a "Christian" nation until the late 19th century.

Jas B2009-02-12T05:31:18Z

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Most of us Europeans find these statistics amazing, throughout our continent the figure is well over 80% of the population who accept evolution.

A study carried out in 2006 published a short comparative study of international acceptance of evolution. Thirty-four countries were polled, and The US were 33rd - edging out Turkey for last place.

The U.S. has a tradition of Protestant fundamentalism not found in Europe that takes the Bible literally and sees the Book of Genesis as an accurate account of the creation of human life.

Research found that in America individuals with anti-abortion, pro-life views associated with the conservative wing of the Republican Party were significantly more likely to reject evolution than people with pro-choice views.

Whereas in Europe having pro-life or right-wing political views had little correlation with a person's attitude toward evolution.

This reflects the politicization of the evolution issue in the U.S. in a manner never seen in Europe. In the second half of the 20th century, the conservative wing of the Republican Party has adopted creationism as part of a platform designed to consolidate their support in Southern and Midwestern states. For example when Ronald Reagan was running for President of the U.S., he gave speeches in these states where he would slip in the sentence, "I have no chimpanzees in my family."

When such a view comes from the U.S. President or other prominent political figures, it lends a degree of legitimacy to the dispute.

studies in the U.S. suggest substantial numbers of American adults are confused about some core ideas related to 20th- and 21st-century biology.

Other researchers cite a 2005 study finding that 78 percent of adults in the U.S. agreed that plants and animals had evolved from other organisms. In the same study, 62 percent also believed that God created humans without any evolutionary development.

They found that fewer than half of American adults can provide a minimal definition of DNA.

As adults with some understanding of genetics are more likely to have a belief in evolution it must be the teaching of biology throughout the States which is the reason for these statistics.

Therefore I believe until evolution is taken out of the political agenda and the influence of the church over the teaching of Biology is removed from the schools, Americans will continue to fail to be properly educated in this subject.

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Anonymous2009-02-11T23:43:47Z

do you really believe in evolution or just adaptation. Most people including Darwin himself believed in adaptation not some crazy complete overhaul of a species into another. Darwin's belief was twisted by you guessed it the politicians of his time to say what it does now. By his death he didn't even believe what everyone was saying he taught.

I believe in Creationism as i am a Christian. But i believe God created us to be able to adapt to our situation.

23

Anonymous2009-02-11T23:26:40Z

It really has nothing to do with education. Educated people sometimes won't believe in something because they haven't been convinced

Before you can even argue your cause, I'd like to see who were the people interviewed, where the estimate came from and how many were used in the survey

High School or Less
Yes 21%
No 27%
N/A 57%

Some College
Yes 41%
No 29%
N/A 30%

College Grad
Yes 53%
No 22%
N/A 26%

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Anonymous2009-02-11T23:31:09Z

Considering the fact that NEITHER side can prove it in total...I think it is honestly irrelevant. The present education system seems to feel that a higher percentage of people accepting a certain theory equals its absolute truth...it does not. People felt at one time the world was flat and it was accepted as truth by educators of the highest degree. This is why science is theory...until you know it all, you only have speculation and ideas.

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing
-Socrates

Try Philosophy first...


*Theory: idea formed by speculation
*Speculation: a conclusion, theory, or opinion based on incomplete facts or information
*Belief: acceptance by the mind that something is true or real.

23

Anonymous2009-02-11T23:53:43Z

America is starting to become a Christian version of Saudi Arabia.
If America doesn't become a civilized secular democracy with freedoms and civil liberties then Western Europe, China, and East Asia will leave us in the dust and the US will be considered a 3rd world country. Haven't the Bush years tought us that Religious Nutbags will only move America back to the 1800s? It's good that Obama isn't a dumb Redneck like Bush or an Evil Genius like Cheney.

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