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What Do Americans Believe About Creationism and Evolution?</
john in springfield | 10/23/2009 | jis (vanity)

Posted on 10/23/2009 8:18:13 PM PDT by john in springfield

What Do Americans Believe About Creationism and Evolution?

After spending time on some of the recent discussions here at FR about Young Earth Creationism (YEC) and other points of view (which I will call Old Earth Creationism (OEC) and Naturalistic Evolution), I found myself wondering: how many FReepers (and how many Americans) hold each particular view?

Obviously, there aren't any statistics on FReepers. But there are on Americans as a whole, and on certain groups of Americans.

The best general resource I've found so far on people's viewpoints is located here. I will summarize some of those here.

(Note: This page uses slightly different terms for a couple of these viewpoints, but as far as I can tell, they mean the same thing.)

American adults as a whole:

About 45% accept the Young Earth Creationist viewpoint, about 37% accept the Old Earth Creationist viewpoint, and around 12% to 14% accept the Naturalistic Evolution viewpoint.

This has held fairly steady over the past 25 years or so. The percentage who believe in NE may have increased slightly, but overall, the numbers have held fairly steady.

A CBS News poll gave a bit different percentages: YEC 55%, OEC 27%, NE 13%.

Observations:

There are a lot of people who believe in young earth creationism, and there are also a lot of people who believe in old earth creationism as well.

The vast majority of Americans believe in God.

The majority of Americans believe in evolution.

American college graduates (Gallup Poll, 1991):

The numbers change significantly among the college-educated:

YEC: 25%
OEC: 54%
NE: 17%

It is interesting to me that most - a full 54% - college-educated Americans accept the Old-Earth Creationist (or theistic evolutionist) view.

Note also the effect that a college education seems to have: With a few exceptions, people who go to college don't stop believing in God. However, quite a few do seem to shift from YEC to OEC.

This graph also means that an awful lot of people who don't go to college believe in YEC rather than in either OEC or NE.

Note that while this poll is nearly 20 years old, based on what we know from some other polls, overall beliefs do not seem to have changed greatly during this time.

Scientists (Gallup Poll, 1997):

YEC: 5%
OEC: 40%
NE: 55%

Note: The word "scientist" seems to be very vague in this poll, which apparently includes a lot of people with professional degrees in fields completely unrelated to biology, geology, etc.

In any event, a majority of "scientists" don't seem to believe that God was involved in the development of life on earth. It's not a very large majority, though. "Scientists" are divided as to whether God was involved. Most of those who think He was believe that this involvement included the process of evolution.

Earth and Life Scientists

A 1987 Newsweek article claimed that well under 1% of earth and life scientists in the United States support the YEC viewpoint of origins. While I have some doubts about the reliability of their estimate (a nationwide total of 700 YEC earth/life scientists seems just too small to me), that number would still seem to be a very small one.

However, given that only 5% of "scientists" support YEC, the under-1% figure may well be true. I just don't know. Nor do I have access to the original 1987 Newsweek article to see exactly how they got their information.

If there's another poll or two out there on this, it might be interesting to know about.

Beliefs of Christians Concerning Origins

A 2007 Harris Poll showed the following percentages of Christians who accept the theory of evolution:

Catholics: 43%
Protestants: 30%
"Born-Again Christians": 16%

Can One Believe in God and Evolution?

Finally, a 2005 CBS Poll stated that a full two thirds (67%) of Americans believe that it's possible for one to believe both in God and in evolution.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: 2009polls; chat; creation; creationism; evolution; vanity
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To: Natural Law

Its already resolved.

To date, each and every piece of physical evidence discovered on Earth demolishes the foolish idea of evolution, and that is in perfect agreement with God’s word, thus there is an ideal situation; the scientific method is affirmed by God’s word.

Now all we need is for the evos to stop wasting our time and money.


341 posted on 10/26/2009 1:25:02 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (The beginning of the O'Bomb-a administration looks a lot like the end of the Nixon administration)
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To: RightWingNilla

Is this another game?

What do you mean by “what were these creatures?”

They are God’s creation, as are all the still living creatures.


342 posted on 10/26/2009 1:27:23 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (The beginning of the O'Bomb-a administration looks a lot like the end of the Nixon administration)
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To: editor-surveyor

So you think the fossils represent extinct animals?


343 posted on 10/26/2009 1:28:55 PM PDT by RightWingNilla
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To: RightWingNilla

Certainly some represent extinct animals, IMO.

Obviously some of them represent many animals that are still reproducing in sufficient numbers that we recognize them. Then there are those that we once thought extinct but recently found otherwise (like the snail that lives along the shores of the Dead Sea that was once used to make blue dye for clothing).


344 posted on 10/26/2009 1:36:04 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (The beginning of the O'Bomb-a administration looks a lot like the end of the Nixon administration)
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To: Agamemnon

Very impressive, AG! Are you still practicing?


345 posted on 10/26/2009 1:37:11 PM PDT by GodGunsGuts
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To: Natural Law
You mean this Charles Pierce Sanders? The author of “What Pragmatism Is
by Charles Sanders Peirce”?

If so, after reading this mush (What Pragmatism Is) I don't think I would call upon him for anything involving clear thinking and definitions.

346 posted on 10/26/2009 1:44:52 PM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: editor-surveyor
My understanding is that the vast majority of fossils do not have modern day counterparts. I mean some of them kind of look like animals alive today, but there are substantial anatomical differences.

What were all of these animals, and why did they completely die off?

347 posted on 10/26/2009 1:51:11 PM PDT by RightWingNilla
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To: GodGunsGuts

He doesnt have to practice it, he knows it!


348 posted on 10/26/2009 1:51:51 PM PDT by RightWingNilla
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To: RightWingNilla

If you look around, you’ll see that all life is steadily dying off. Earth is headed for the judgment.

Many species were wiped out during the Genesis judgment; the majority of them being (unsurprisingly) marine life. That is what a massive eruption of super heated water and lava from below the Earth’s crust (the “fountains of the great deep”) will tend to do.


349 posted on 10/26/2009 2:04:06 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (The beginning of the O'Bomb-a administration looks a lot like the end of the Nixon administration)
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To: count-your-change

Its amazing how many people use the term ‘pragmatism’ as though it were just a benign descriptor. They can’t seem to grasp that it is the ugliest idea that has ever been put forth: “The ends justify the means.”

And it describes the promotion of evolution in the school room perfectly.

(don’t tell NL, he’s so busy being proud of himself)


350 posted on 10/26/2009 2:22:47 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (The beginning of the O'Bomb-a administration looks a lot like the end of the Nixon administration)
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To: editor-surveyor

So according to the hypothesis, in the judgment, God killed off something like 99.9% of the animals he made. And it is only the ones who made it into the ark that survived. The same goes for plant life too. Presumably all of the land vegetation that survives today was saved by Noah in the ark? Would you say this is accurate?


351 posted on 10/26/2009 2:40:52 PM PDT by RightWingNilla
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To: RightWingNilla

Why don’t you break down and read the Bible?

Then you could really know for yourself.


352 posted on 10/26/2009 2:43:41 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (The beginning of the O'Bomb-a administration looks a lot like the end of the Nixon administration)
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To: editor-surveyor
I just wanted to acknowledge that an enormous percentage of life was killed off in the judgment. I dont think that is explicitly mentioned in the Bible.

I was curious about something else that I could not find in Genesis. Where does oil come from?

353 posted on 10/26/2009 2:47:09 PM PDT by RightWingNilla
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To: RightWingNilla

I don’t know that any percentages are known or given and there would be no need to take plants aboard the Ark if they could regenerate but other than the fresh olive leaf brought back by the dove I think the bible is silent on the matter of plants and the Ark.


354 posted on 10/26/2009 3:00:08 PM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: count-your-change

Well I think Noah would have had to have brought most of land vegetation onto the ark because they wouldnt survive being underwater for too long. There are many species of plant that will be too badly damaged after being submersed in H2O for extended period of time. Or maybe he just collected the seeds? That would have saved a lot of space.


355 posted on 10/26/2009 3:05:05 PM PDT by RightWingNilla
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To: RightWingNilla
"Where does oil come from?"

From methane.

356 posted on 10/26/2009 3:10:50 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (The beginning of the O'Bomb-a administration looks a lot like the end of the Nixon administration)
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To: editor-surveyor
OK this is bugging me. I found it online regarding the flood...

In Genesis 6:19-21, it is written: And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

Its the "every" that is bothering me. From the fossil record, it would seem that most animals were not on the ark at all. Am I missing something?

357 posted on 10/26/2009 3:11:07 PM PDT by RightWingNilla
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To: editor-surveyor
From methane.

I am talking about the stuff they drill in Iraq and Texas. That comes from methane? Could you elaborate?

358 posted on 10/26/2009 3:12:07 PM PDT by RightWingNilla
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To: RightWingNilla

Seeds can float, and be carried by currents.

Obviously vegetation had begun to re-grow before the ark was opened.


359 posted on 10/26/2009 3:13:00 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (The beginning of the O'Bomb-a administration looks a lot like the end of the Nixon administration)
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To: RightWingNilla

Google it.

There are lots of papers on it.


360 posted on 10/26/2009 3:14:05 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (The beginning of the O'Bomb-a administration looks a lot like the end of the Nixon administration)
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