The majority of Americans doubt Darwinism.
Joel Kontinen
Evolution is not popular in the United States - even though it is Charles Darwin’s 200th anniversary . Lucy, on tour in US museums, has failed to attract attention and according to a recent study 52 per cent of the American public believe that intelligent design explains the development of life better than the Darwinian explanation of random mutations and natural selection.
Only 33 per cent thought evolution was the better model. Of the interviewees, 7 per cent were not convinced of either view and an additional 8 per cent were unsure.
The study, carried out by Zogby International and commissioned by Discovery Institute, surveyed the views of 1 053 randomly chosen voting-age Americans. The margin of error was + / - 3.1 per cent.
The telephone survey consisted of approximately 44 questions. In addition to the development of life, it also asked about the view on the teaching of evolution in science classes. The results were interesting:
54 per cent strongly agreed that teachers and students should have the freedom to discuss both the strengths and weaknesses of evolution.
26 per cent somewhat agreed.
6 per cent somewhat disagreed.
11 per cent strongly disagreed,
and the rest did not know.
In other words, 80 per cent of the interviewees would allow criticism of evolution in science classes.
The majority of Americans do not favour expelling dissenters but want more critical and honest science education. It seems that they have had enough of Darwinian hype, such as Ida, the recently advertised missing link that turned out to be more of a red herring than anything else.
Although evolutionists have a virtual monopoly on science education and control of the popular media, many still find it difficult to believe in Darwinian evolution. Even in Darwin‘s homeland Britain a sizeable portion of the population prefer to dissent from the official dogma of goo-to-you evolution.
Source:
Discovery Institute. 2009. In Darwin Anniversary Year, Zogby Poll Reveals Majority Support for Intelligent Design, Doubts about Darwinism.See the research in pdf form here .
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