A belief in God and an identification with an organized religion are widespread throughout the country, according to the latest NEWSWEEK poll. Nine in 10 (91 percent) of American adults say they believe in God and almost as many (87 percent) say they identify with a specific religion. Christians far outnumber members of any other faith in the country, with 82 percent of the poll’s respondents identifying themselves as such. Another 5 percent say they follow a non-Christian faith, such as Judaism or Islam. Nearly half (48 percent) of the public rejects the scientific theory of evolution; one-third (34 percent) of college graduates say they accept the Biblical account of creation as fact. Seventy-three percent of Evangelical Protestants say they believe that God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years; 39 percent of non-Evangelical Protestants and 41 percent of Catholics agree with that view.How disheartening. For far too many people being a Christian means turning off one's brain. The Bible is not a scientific textbook. The biblical story of creation is myth not science. It's beautiful myth; it's lousy science.
Update:
Here the actual poll questions and numbers:
12. Which one of the following statements come closest to your views about the origin and development of human beings? Humans developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process (or) Humans developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process (or) God created humans pretty much in the present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so?
God guided process | God had no part | Created in present form | Other/Don't Know | |
Current Total | 30% | 13% | 48% | 9% |
Evangelical Protestants | 18% | 4% | 73% | 5% |
Non-Evangelical Protestants | 42% | 9% | 39% | 10% |
Catholics | 42% | 11% | 41% | 6% |
Agnostics/Atheists | 27% | 45% | 13% | 15% |
13. Do you think the scientific theory of evolution is well-supported by evidence and widely accepted within the scientific community?
Well-supported | Not well-supported | Don't Know | |
Current Total | 48% | 39% | 13% |
Evangelical Protestants | 25% | 63% | 12% |
Non-Evangelical Protestants | 57% | 24% | 19% |
Catholics | 58% | 33% | 9% |
Agnostics/Atheists | 73% | 18% | 9% |
So 25% of the self-identified agnostics/athiests in the poll think that God guided the process of evolution and 13% think that humans were created in their present form within the last 10,000 years. Either they found the question confusing or the meaning of being an agnostic/atheist is open to question. It makes me wonder about the meaningfulness of these results. I also would have liked to see question 13 broken into two parts: 1) do you think the scientific theory of evolution is well-supported by evidence; and 2) do you think it is widely accepted within the scientific community. Putting the two questions together blurs the meaning of the response.
1 comment:
I have never figured out why religious individuals are so put off by the theory of evolution and seem to need to reject it with so much passion. This is a prime example of making a
mountain out of a mole hill. As far as I can see they have put themselves into the middle of an argument that is a total waste of time which they spend in defending their position. What does it matter how God created the Universe and Man. Who could argue against the premise that if God could create man out of nothing, He would have no problem of creating man out of something. John the Baptist told the religious authorities of his day that GOD could turn the very stones into children for Abraham.
Post a Comment