Posted on 08/31/2006 7:42:01 PM PDT by PatrickHenry
More adults in the United States believe the theory of evolution is correct, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. 51 per cent of respondents think that humans and other living things evolved over time, while 42 per cent say they existed in their present form since the beginning of time.
Charles Darwin’s "The Origin of Species" was first published in 1859. The book details the British naturalist’s theory that all organisms gradually evolve through the process of natural selection. Darwin’s views were antagonistic to creationism, the belief that a more powerful being or a deity created life.
In the United States, the debate on the topic accelerated after the 1925 Scopes trial, which tested a law that banned the teaching of evolution in Tennessee public schools. In 2004, Georgia’s Cobb County was at the centre of a controversy on whether science textbooks that explain evolutionary theory should include disclaimer stickers.
The theory of intelligent design suggests certain biological mechanisms are too complex to have developed without the involvement of a powerful force or intelligent being.
Last month, Austrian cardinal Christoph Schoenborn said the two views are not necessarily incompatible, declaring, "There is no conflict between science and religion, but a debate between a materialist interpretation of the results of science and a metaphysical philosophical interpretation. (...) The possibility that the Creator used evolution as a tool is completely acceptable for the Catholic faith."
Polling Data
Some people think that humans and other living things evolved over time. Others think that humans and other living things existed in their present form since the beginning of time. Which of these comes closest to your view?
|
|
||
|
Jul. 2006 |
Jul. 2005 |
|
|
Evolved over time |
51% |
48% |
|
Existed in their present form |
42% |
42% |
|
Don’t know / Refused |
7% |
10% |
Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press Methodology: Telephone interviews with 2,003 American adults, conducted from Jul. 6 to Jul. 19, 2006. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
Looks like the Fleeing Cur crapped out again.
No, you didn't. None of us did. However we and the apes evolved from a common ancestor - just like a Bull Mastiff and a Pekenese evolved from a common ancestor.
I am absolutely amazed that 42% of the population does not believe in evolution. Do you really think that everything that is alive on Earth has always been the same and were all created just as they are with no changes?
It boggles the mind.
That wouldn't help the homeschooled.
LoL... yeah thats what they are saying... At least many here on FR are saying/implying that.. But will never admit it.. Like a few consonants at the end of your name (i.e. Phd) make you "smart".. Tenure is a bad idea.. i.e. Cornel West, Noam Chomsky, many many others...
That is what a lot of other polls show; evolution in the minority.
Sometimes I think FR is being taken over by the flatearth society.
Seriously, how many centuries did it take for the Catholic church to agree with galeleo?
Up until the PopeJohnPaul wasn't the catholic church still in the geocentric mind set?
Both views can co-exist by being complentary.
Jeepers, js1138, but I have. See Wolfhart Pannenberg's Toward a Theology of Nature, available at amazon.com. That's why I'm recommending them.
Those that feel that their Faith is disturbed and diminshed by a mere Fact couldn't have had a very strong Faith to begin with.
Newton's (heretical) Biblical speculations are almost completely ignored nowadays. IIRC, his alchemy, do a minor extent, is somewhat scientific.
Jeepers Betty, Newton rejected most of what modern churchgoers accept. His religion was close to Deism. He rejected the Trinity and divine intervention in the world. He spent as much time dabbling in alchemy as he did in the things for which he is remembered.
Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Well jeepers, Virginia-American, neither Pannberg nor I am ignoring them. So I gather you'd say we must be terribly out-of-step with current fashions....
But then TRVTH is not fashionable.
I find it interesting that you would take a shot at Newton like that.
Not at all. Physical science deals with that which in it's province: the description and understanding of observable phenomena. It doesn't claim to deal with spiritual beliefs or moral codes. Trying to apply the theory of biological evolution (for which there is abundant physical evidence) to things like moral behavior is as much of a mistake as trying to apply the spiritual beliefs professed in the bible to modern science.
And your demand for a single, universally-accepted version of 'TRUTH' (whatever that is) is doomed to go unfulfilled. It's in the eye of the beholder. The numerous posters on these threads who reject modern physical science and ample evidence of that.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with alchemy, depending on the methods of research employed. We have, in fact, transmuted elements.
Bad conjectures do not make pseudoscience; bad methods do.
Evolution is amazing, I wonder who invented it?
If this is as you say, then please tell me js1138, why Newton's fundamental conception of God was "the Lord of Life, with His creatures." And the sensorium Dei -- which I imagine to be a universal field -- as facilitating the point of contact between God and His creation?
There is NO WAY that Newton was a Deist. Though possibly his friend (and critic) Leibniz was a proto-Deist.
I'm not taking a shot at newton, except to say he had some very non-traditional ideas, and some interesting obsessions. Most of which are blessedly forgotten.
His science lives on. I rather doubt that his theology will ever be more than a curiosity, even though I lean toward Deism.
Yeah, that's why I said his alchemy was partially scientific. If he'd spent more time actually experimenting, and wasted less time speculating about Scripture, he might have advanced chemistry 100s of years.
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