Only 2 Out Of 5......Really?

According to recent Pew and Gallup poll surveys (see story below), only 40% of Americans accept the theory of evolution. The only good to point thing about these results is that they are holding steady from previous years. That is also one of the bad points as well. I guess I am just glad that the numbers aren't dropping. Why is this so? My guess is:

1) People not being educated properly on the issue of evolution (We are not communicating it well enough to the public!).

2) For some, religion can't coexist with evolution. So, those with a strict literal interpretation of holy books will not accept evolution (or any other ideas/theories/facts that contradict their world view)

3) Because of number 2, the doors are open wide for those in power to misrepresent evolution (often, science in general).

4) Some people just don't care either way.

What to do? Number one is starting to get fixed. Lawrence Krauss, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, P.Z. Myers, Phil Plait, Michael Shermer and many others are now reaching out to the public to make evolution (science in general) more accessible to the public. Number two and three are a bit tougher. This is in part because you are challenging someones world view. People who are religious are very guarded about their beliefs. I think this is due to the fact that they don't just accept those ideas or beliefs and that's it. Those ideas/beliefs become apart of their identity. When this happens, challenging their ideas/beliefs quickly becomes very sticky situation. But as we have learned from history, just believing something doesn't make it right. At one time, people believed that the sun revolved around the earth, some did because the bible says it does (or at least was interpreted that way). That belief didn't change the fact that the earth revolves around the sun.

So, where do you fit in here? If you already accept the theory of evolution, are you explaining it clearly to those you converse with? Or are your religious beliefs conflicting with science? If so, they don't have to. Ken Miller (Orthodox Catholic and Cell Biologist at Brown University), Francis Collins (Evangelical Christian and former head of the human genome project), David Sloan Wilson, and others have written books on how they reconcile their personal belief in god with evolution (science). If you do fall into number two from above, have you been getting your information exclusively from Ken Ham, Kent Hovind, Ray Comfort, and so on? Try getting some accurate info from some of the folks I have listed here or go to a website like talkorigins.org (which happens to be down at the moment!! but there are others like PBS).

D

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

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.