Most Americans Still Reject Evolution
| by | Dave Miller, Ph.D. |
Ever since Charles Darwin penned his Origin of the Species, the theory of evolution has bullied itself into the public sector with increasing vehemence. From the infamous 1925 Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee that captured worldwide attention, to the more recent ravings of intolerant perpetrators like Richard Dawkins, the American population has been the berated brunt of incessant ridicule and coercion by the scientific community. Young people in the public school system have been prodded with intimidating indoctrination at all levels, from the lower grades to the university. Evolution has so dominated the field for over a century that virtually every area of public life has been targeted by the purveyors of evolutionary propaganda, including the entertainment industry, where science fiction movies from Star Trek to Star Wars routinely advance evolutionary assumptions. The propaganda ministry of a totalitarian regime could not have enacted a more pervasive means of achieving their objective than what evolutionists have actually accomplished in America—especially in the last 50 years.
You might think that with the deck stacked so overwhelmingly against the biblical view of origins, the vast majority of Americans would believe in evolution. Yet, seemingly against all odds, a majority of the American people has managed to maintain a respectable resistance to the ongoing evolutionary indoctrination. Apparently, the Founders of American civilization so thoroughly rooted the Republic in the Christian worldview that the hurricane-force gales of unbelief and skepticism that have beat steadily upon society have been far less influential than anyone could have imagined. Though evolution has been cloaked under the guise of “scholarship,” “intelligence,” and “science,” most Americans still manifest the good sense to reject it. So show a wide variety of polls (see “Science and Nature...,” 2007 for the poll results that follow).
For instance, a FOX News/Opinion Dynamics Poll on August 25-26, 1999 asked registered voters nationwide, “Which do you think is more likely to actually be the explanation for the origin of human life on Earth: the theory of evolution as outlined by Darwin and other scientists, the biblical account of creation as told in the Bible, or are both true?” Only 15% chose the theory of evolution, while 50% pointed to the biblical account (26% cited both).
In an NBC News Poll of adults nationwide March 8-10, 2005, respondents were asked, “Which do you think is more likely to actually be the explanation for the origin of human life on Earth: evolution or the biblical account of creation?” Only 33% cited evolution, while 57% cited the biblical account, with 44% of the 57% believing in the Genesis account of a six-day Creation.
In a Harris Poll of adults nationwide, conducted June 17-21, 2005, 64% indicated that humans were created directly by God (with another 10% affirming the necessity of a powerful force or intelligent being). Only 22% said humans evolved from earlier species.
In a nationwide CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll conducted September 8-11, 2005, 53% said that God created human beings in their present form exactly the way the Bible describes it, with another 31% opting for God guiding the process of evolution (a total of 84% attributing human origins to God). Only 12% said they believed in evolution with no God.
In a nationwide CBS News Poll April 6-9, 2006, 53% said that God created human beings in their present form, 23% said God guided the process using evolution (for a total of 76% believing in God), while only 17% said godless evolution was responsible for the origin of man. These results compare with the same questions asked two years earlier by CBS (November 18-21, 2004), in which 55% attributed the creation of human beings to God, 27% said God guided the process of evolution, and only 13% eliminated God from the process.
Seven nationwide Gallup Polls were conducted among adults beginning in 1982, then repeated in 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004, with the most recent being May 8-11, 2006, in which the numbers remained fairly constant. The 2006 poll showed 46% of Americans still believing that “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.” Another 36% said God guided the process (for a total of 82% attributing creation to God), while only 13% said God had no part.
In a Newsweek Poll of adults nationwide, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International on March 28-29, 2007, 48% said “God created humans pretty much in the present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.” Another 30% said God guided the process (for a total of 78% attributing human origins to God). Only 13% believed in straight evolution.
These results are absolutely astounding—especially since, as previously stated, American culture has sustained an incessant bombardment of evolutionary propaganda for many decades. Two observations are worthy of note. First, juxtaposing the two “purist” positions, i.e., humans were created miraculously and instantaneously by God (no evolution) versus humans evolved over millions of years by means of non-theistic naturalistic forces, it is evident that a majority of Americans (roughly three to one) still believe the Bible account:
God
|
Evolution
|
|
August, 1999
|
50%
|
15%
|
Nov., 2004
|
55%
|
13%
|
March, 2005
|
57/44%
|
33%
|
June, 2005
|
64%
|
22%
|
Sept., 2005
|
53%
|
12%
|
April, 2006
|
53%
|
17%
|
May, 2006
|
46%
|
13%
|
March, 2007
|
48%
|
13%
|
Second, the greatest fallout of the strong-arm tactics of the evolutionists appears to have been—not the abandonment of belief in the Bible’s depiction of God as the Creator of humans—but the inclusion of evolutionist principles as the means by which God accomplished creation, i.e., theistic evolution. This compromise carries serious negative implications. Theistic evolution is equally as fallacious and spiritually damaging as atheistic evolution (see Lyons and Thompson, 2001; Thompson, 2000). The Founders of American civilization certainly would be saddened at the flippant attitude toward the biblical account inherent in theistic evolution.
Nevertheless, the majority of Americans are to be commended for maintaining a continuing realization that God exists and He is the Creator. In the words of many of the Founders of American civilization, He is “Parent” of the human race (e.g., Washington, 1789; Madison, 1814; Huntington, 1782; Ward, 1776; Journals of..., 1779). He is “the Divine Author of our existence” (Jefferson, 1775). He is the “Creator” of us all (Adams, 1775; “Official Letter...,” 1777; Adams, 1780; Scudder, 1778; et al.). Indeed, humans did not come into being by means of the mindless, mechanistic forces of materialism posited by evolution. “Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us” (Psalm 100:3).
REFERENCES
Adams, Samuel (1780), “Letters of Delegates to Congress: Samuel Adams to John Adams,” Vol. 16, December 17, [On-line], URL: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?hlaw:9:./temp/~ammem_SCBH::.
Dawkins, Richard (1996), The Blind Watchmaker (New York: W.W. Norton).
Huntington, Benjamin (1782), “Letters of Delegates to Congress: Benjamin Huntington to Anne Huntington,” Vol. 19, August 5, [On-line], URL: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?hlaw:41:./temp/~ammem_ORjd::.
Jefferson, Thomas (1775), “Declaration on Taking Arms,” Journals of the Continental Congress, July 6, [On-line], URL: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?hlaw:13:./temp/~ammem_SCBH::.
Journals of the Continental Congress (1779), March 20, [On-line], URL: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?hlaw:106:./temp/~ammem_it8j::.
Lyons, Eric and Bert Thompson (2001), “Theistic Evolution,” [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/1642.
Madison, James (1814), “Thanksgiving Day 1814—A Proclamation, Pilgrim Hall Museum, [On-line], URL: http://www.pilgrimhall.org/ThanxProc1789.htm.
New England Primer (1805), [On-line], URL: http://public.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/his341/nep1805contents.html.
“Official Letter Accompanying Act of Confederation” (1777), Elliot’s Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Vol. 1, November 17, [On-line], URL: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?hlaw:4:./temp/~ammem_SCBH::.
“Science and Nature: Origin of Human Life” (2007), PollingReport.com, [On-line], URL: http://www.pollingreport.com/science.htm.
Scudder, Nathaniel (1778), “Letters of Delegates to Congress: Nathaniel Scudder to Joseph Scudder,” Vol. 9, May 1, [On-line], URL: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?hlaw:1:./temp/~ammem_SCBH::.
Thompson, Bert (2000), Creation Compromises, Apologetics Press, second edition, [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/pdfs/e-books_pdf/cre_comp.pdf.
Ward, Samuel (1776), “Letters of Delegates to Congress: Samuel Ward to His Daughter,” Vol. 3, March 8, [On-line], URL: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?hlaw:86:./temp/~ammem_ORjd::.
Washington, George (1789), “First Inaugural Address,” The Avalon Project at Yale Law School, [On-line], URL: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/wash1.htm.
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