Darwin's Birthday Poll: Fewer Than 4 in 10 Believe in Evolution

[Dos Equis]

Darwin's Birthday Poll: Fewer Than 4 in 10 Believe in Evolution
Thursday, February 12, 2009 

A new poll released just in time for Charles Darwin's 200th birthday found that only 39 percent of Americans say they "believe in the theory of evolution," and just 24 percent of those who attend church weekly believe in that explanation for the development of life on Earth.

The Gallup survey, released Wednesday, found a quarter of those polled do not believe in evolution, and 36 percent said they don't have an opinion either way.

Another survey by the Pew Research Center got similar results.

The Gallup poll of 1,018 American adults found strong ties between education level and belief in the theory of evolution.

"Among those with high-school educations or less who have an opinion on Darwin's theory, more say they do not believe in evolution than say they believe in it," Gallup found. "For all other groups, and in particular those who have at least a college degree, belief is significantly higher than nonbelief."

Just 21 percent of respondents who had up to a high school level of education believe in evolution, compared with 74 percent of those with postgraduate degrees.

Frank Newport, Gallup's editor-in-chief, wrote that attitudes were shaped to an even greater degree by religion.

"Previous Gallup research shows that the rate of church attendance is fairly constant across educational groups, suggesting that this relationship is not owing to an underlying educational difference but instead reflects a direct influence of religious beliefs on belief in evolution," he said.

Among weekly churchgoers, only 24 percent said they believe in evolution, while 41 percent do not and 35 percent have no opinion.

Inversely, 55 percent of those who seldom or never attend church expressed belief in evolution, while 11 percent do not, and 34 percent have no opinion.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,491345,00.html

[tonymctones]

First Evolution is a fact you see evolution in action with bacteria, lactose intolerance, immunity to disease these are all products of Evolution. The idea that saying evolution exists automatically says you believe we evolved from from "monkeys" shows how much most ppl really know about evolution and how misinformed they actually are on the subject.

i think ppl should look into it and actually research the concept rather then just dismiss it outright like a lot of ppl do. Doesnt suprise me that 24% of ppl with a high school diploma believe it and 75% of ppl with a higher education do believe it. I dont remember being told anything about evolution really in high school it wasnt until i got to college that i actually was taught about it.

[Nordic Superman]

This is something to be embarrassed about; not something to be ignorantly proud of.

[MCWAY]

This is something to be embarrassed about; not something to be ignorantly proud of.

I just saw a movie about one of the greatest neurosurgeons in the world, "Gifted Hands", about Dr. Ben Carson.

He's one of those over 6 in 10 that doesn't believe in evolution. Now, there's a real embarrasment for you.

Then, there's the Dr. Robin Crossman, founder of Babytooth Technologies, which does research on getting stem cells from baby teeth, to help cure deadly diseases, as a practical, more effective, and far-less ethically controversial alternative to embryonic stem cell research.

OOOOHHH!!!!! I'm just so mortified......THE HUMANITY!!!!!

Darwin's Birthday Poll: Fewer Than 4 in 10 Believe in Evolution
Thursday, February 12, 2009 

A new poll released just in time for Charles Darwin's 200th birthday found that only 39 percent of Americans say they "believe in the theory of evolution," and just 24 percent of those who attend church weekly believe in that explanation for the development of life on Earth.

The Gallup survey, released Wednesday, found a quarter of those polled do not believe in evolution, and 36 percent said they don't have an opinion either way.

Another survey by the Pew Research Center got similar results.

The Gallup poll of 1,018 American adults found strong ties between education level and belief in the theory of evolution.

"Among those with high-school educations or less who have an opinion on Darwin's theory, more say they do not believe in evolution than say they believe in it," Gallup found. "For all other groups, and in particular those who have at least a college degree, belief is significantly higher than nonbelief."

Just 21 percent of respondents who had up to a high school level of education believe in evolution, compared with 74 percent of those with postgraduate degrees.

Frank Newport, Gallup's editor-in-chief, wrote that attitudes were shaped to an even greater degree by religion.

"Previous Gallup research shows that the rate of church attendance is fairly constant across educational groups, suggesting that this relationship is not owing to an underlying educational difference but instead reflects a direct influence of religious beliefs on belief in evolution," he said.

Among weekly churchgoers, only 24 percent said they believe in evolution, while 41 percent do not and 35 percent have no opinion.

Inversely, 55 percent of those who seldom or never attend church expressed belief in evolution, while 11 percent do not, and 34 percent have no opinion.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,491345,00.html

I just thought of something (and, ironically I remember seeing this on Fox News, too).

Perhaps, there's a correlation between this belief in evolution and the Catholic Church. According to a Fox News Poll I saw a few months ago, when it comes to Christian denominations, it appears that, worldwide (outside the USA), 67% of people who declare themselves Christians are Catholics. But, in the USA, only 33% of people who declare themselves Christians are Catholic.

Just a thought!!!

[Nordic Superman]

He's one of those over 6 in 10 that doesn't believe in evolution. Now, there's a real embarrasment for you.

He doesn't believe in facts? Yes I concur, that is rather embarrassing!

[MCWAY]

He doesn't believe in facts? Yes I concur, that is rather embarrassing!

Indeed he does. It's evolution that he doesn't believe!! 

Same goes for Dr. Crossman!!

[Nordic Superman]

Indeed he does. It's evolution that he doesn't believe!! 

Same goes for Dr. Crossman!!

Evolution is a fact; it has been observed. He'd be a very silly man not to believe in the natural process of evolution.

[Option D]

Yeah man how do you call yourself a grown man and not beleive in evolution...

[Nordic Superman]

Yeah man how do you call yourself a grown man and not beleive in evolution...

Do you believe 1 + 1 = 2?

To me, believing 1 + 1 <> 2 is almost equal to not believing a observable natural process such as evolution.

[MCWAY]

Yeah man how do you call yourself a grown man and not beleive in evolution...

The same way Drs. Carson, Crossman, Abraham and others do.

Of course, this leads you with the unique task of explaining how one of the world's best neurosurgeons, the founder of a stem cell research company (I thought you guys were BIG on stem cell research), and a leading expert in zebrafish, respectively, somehow get disqualified as grown men, because they don't believe in evolution.

[Option D]

The same way Drs. Carson, Crossman, Abraham and others do.

Of course, this leads you with the unique task of explaining how one of the world's best neurosurgeons, the founder of a stem cell research company (I thought you guys were BIG on stem cell research), and a leading expert in zebrafish, respectively, somehow get disqualified as grown men, because they don't believe in evolution.

evolution is not a belief, its a law. Its a proven law. You beleive in something out of faith, you done see to have faith. But evolution is seen and proven therefore it is law

[MCWAY]

evolution is not a belief, its a law. Its a proven law. You beleive in something out of faith, you done see to have faith. But evolution is seen and proven therefore it is law

The request was to show how Drs. Carson, Abraham, and Crossman, are somehow no longer grown men, because they don't believe in this "proven law".

[Option D]

The request was to show how Drs. Carson, Abraham, and Crossman, are somehow no longer grown men, because they don't believe in this "proven law".

I dont give a shit what the request it. I said how can someone call themselves an adult and not beleive in a seen proven law with evidence.

[MCWAY]

I dont give a shit what the request it. I said how can someone call themselves an adult and not beleive in a seen proven law with evidence.

That's a stretch, to say the least. Regardless, Belief in evolution isn’t a requirement to be an adult, much less a scientist or physician, as those three men I listed are.

Unless you can show some correlation, between belief in evolution and adulthood, your comment is little more than a pointless, mean-spirited opinion.

[liberalismo]

Essentially all Biological Scientists believe in Evolution (I think the last poll was 98%). The few exceptions are notably only because they are so rare. People who don't believe in Evolution almost always are ignorant of it, and refuse to educate themselves on it. They repeat the same lame arguments and post the same refuted websites (which they've never even read anyway).
It makes them uncomfortable to think that they came from non-humans, so they block it out mentally and ignore all evidence presented to them.

[MCWAY]

Essentially all Biological Scientists believe in Evolution (I think the last poll was 98%). The few exceptions are notably only because they are so rare. People who don't believe in Evolution almost always are ignorant of it, and refuse to educate themselves on it. They repeat the same lame arguments and post the same refuted websites (which they've never even read anyway).
It makes them uncomfortable to think that they came from non-humans, so they block it out mentally and ignore all evidence presented to them.

And your evidence of this alleged “ignorance” of evolution by these doctors (i.e. Carson, Crossman, Abraham) would be……...

Furthermore, these scientists may not be as “rare” as you think. Given the fact that some don’t want to get fired, ala Dr. Abraham (and the increased amount of complaints by evolutionists about folk about Creationists) those scientists may simply keep themselves (or at least their views on this issue) quiet.

If anything the reverse, with regards to your last statement, is true (and evolutionists have admitted as much): Their philosophical mindset makes them uncomfortable with the idea that there is a supernatural Creator. Therefore, so they block out the evidence presented to them. This was especially true in the 19th and early/mid 20th century, when it came to the issue of a once-touted-now-shunned tenet of evolution, known as spontaneous generation.

[liberalismo]

And your evidence of this alleged “ignorance” of evolution by these doctors (i.e. Carson, Crossman, Abraham) would be……...

No idea. They have ideological blocks or they haven't done their homework.

Furthermore, these scientists may not be as “rare” as you think. Given the fact that some don’t want to get fired, ala Dr. Abraham (and the increased amount of complaints by evolutionists about folk about Creationists) those scientists may simply keep themselves (or at least their views on this issue) quiet.

There's no evidence of this. According to anonymous polls:

Of the scientists and engineers in the United States, only about 5% are creationists, according to a 1991 Gallup poll (Robinson 1995, Witham 1997). However, this number includes those working in fields not related to life origins (such as computer scientists, mechanical engineers, etc.). Taking into account only those working in the relevant fields of earth and life sciences, there are about 480,000 scientists, but only about 700 believe in "creation-science" or consider it a valid theory (Robinson 1995). This means that less than 0.15 percent of relevant scientists believe in creationism. And that is just in the United States, which has more creationists than any other industrialized country. In other countries, the number of relevant scientists who accept creationism drops to less than one tenth of 1 percent.

http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CA/CA111.html

Direct link to the page profiling the gallop poll which isn't loading right now:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_publi.htm

If anything the reverse, with regards to your last statement, is true (and evolutionists have admitted as much): Their philosophical mindset makes them uncomfortable with the idea that there is a supernatural Creator. Therefore, so they block out the evidence presented to them. This was especially true in the 19th and early/mid 20th century, when it came to the issue of a once-touted-now-shunned tenet of evolution, known as spontaneous generation.

I'm not uncomfortable with the idea of a supernatural creator (The God of Thomas Paine, Jefferson, Spinoza). (Though I'd be quite terrified of the aspect of the evil despotic psychopaths of Gods described in the Old Testament, or in the Koran or in Hindu books of existing)  I have no problem with it and am open to ANY evidence. The problem is that I've never come along any real evidence for any creator. MOST Atheists that I know do their own personal vast amounts of reading of Creationist/Intelligent Design websites and books to learn more and more arguments for God so that they can figure out how to refute them (to be prepared for debates against creationists, etc.) Same with me. I don't brush evidence away is irrelevant if it is there, and if it SEEMS to be proof or evidence then I will examine it totally and thoroughly to find out if it is valid or if it stands up to my criticism. So far NONE has stood up to my criticism.


Spontaneous Generation wasn't ever a tenet of Evolution. It was an early scientific hypothesis to try to explain the CURRENT origin of things like worms or other small creatures that appeared on rotting things.

For instance, How do maggots appear on rotting apples? Early scientists thought that they "spontaneously generated" due to some supernatural forces. But once someone put a glass bottle over a rotting apple and saw that no maggots appeared, that idea was refuted.
It had nothing to do with Atheism. IN FACT...Early Christian churches EMBRACED Spontaneous Generation and said that the "supernatural force" responsible for the spontaneous generation of life was GOD.

[Option D]

Bottom line. To argue evolution is childish and ignorant.

[liberalismo]

Bottom line. To argue evolution is childish and ignorant.

Not when people deny it. If someone dies an observable fact of nature, I'll argue it.


That's just how I roll.

[Option D]

Not when people deny it. If someone dies an observable fact of nature, I'll argue it.


That's just how I roll.

Thats who im talking about. To argue against evolution is dumb..sorry. It is not a belief..its like beleiving the computer is in front of me right now, no its a fact that the computer.. Thats what evolution is. It is a fact that has been proven throughout history like a billion times. IMO there should not be an argument about it.

[Joel_A]

Take this little video for example. This idiot from CBN thinks he's cool to ask snide questions to regular folks who believe in evoilution, but it only proves that even with a little education on evolution you can present a good argument against these religious whackos. I thought the blonde on the video was excellent.

[Nordic Superman]

Ha ha, that reporter is an IDIOT!

It brings great joy to my face that this person is a spokesperson for creationism.

He has no understanding of biology; asexual reproduction to him is simple cellular division - even tho some species of slugs are both asexual AND sexual yet regardless of the procreation pathway produce EGGS.

Man I would love for someone like this to interview me.

[liberalismo]

He should be interviewing scientists, not regular people who have no real understanding of evolution.

[Joel_A]

found this gem about the same dude. it is funny and scary at the same time how delusional this guy really is. kirk cameron is another story.

[Nordic Superman]

Perfectly shaped? Ha by using that logic cock is perfectly designed by God for this mans consumption; some are even curved as the make the whole process easier