A recently released Gallop poll conducted for USA Today suggests that almost half of us (46 percent) believe in Creationism. Creationism, simply put, claims that God created humans in their current form about 10,000 years ago and rejects evolution.
The poll also indicates a majority of the other half (37 percent) believe that God has some control over our lives or, at the very least, over what happens on this planet.
In comparison to a similar poll conducted over 30 years ago, little has changed except for the percentage of those who believe that God had nothing to do with evolution. That percentage increased from 9 to 15 percent.
The results, if viewed over the 30 year span, show a consistency in the percentages pertaining to the religious right rather than an explosive growth in that faction.
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A similar poll was conducted a few years ago.
The poll also revealed that beliefs in creationism and evolution are strongly related to levels of education attained. When results are narrowed to those with college degrees, only 37 percent of respondents maintain beliefs in creationism. Meanwhile, the belief in evolution without the aid of God rises to 21 percent.
With regards to political affiliation, a majority of Republicans (52 percent) subscribe to creationist beliefs. This is compared to only 34 percent among Democrats and Independents.
Unrelated to said poll, but still rather telling, if atheists disappeared from our shores, a la ‘raptured’, America would lose 93% of the members of the National Academy of Sciences and only 1% of the prison population?
Another swing and a miss for religion.
And, it’s no coincidence that the faith-based biology and faith-based economics (i.e. job creationism) are one and the same.
I am an educated and religious person who believes God created the world and, with it, evolution and then on another “day” made humans somehow different, with free will, and then let them use it. Some people think I’m twisted, but these beliefs work for me and even the church to which I belong.
IronCelt – If I told you your spouse was having an affair, you’d demand proof (and possibly act out in violence against me, but that’s another topic). And I provided such proof, you most likely would still deny the obvious.
Yet, infidelity occurs daily in the world, and quite often in America’s Bible Belt (the Bible Belt “is an area with the highest divorce, murder, STD/HIV/AIDS, teen pregnancy, single parent homes, infant mortality, and obesity rates in the nation. As a region, the Bible Belt has the poorest health care systems and the lowest rates of high school graduation).
But, without fail, you’ll believe unsubstantiated stories originating thousand of years ago, having been revised countless time by its own advocates, originally created by men with an intelligence equal to today’s modern pre-schooler.
Peculiar thing about beliefs – they’re not facts.