Joel Kontinen
Darwinism does not fare well in Darwin’s homeland. An online survey of 2,129 UK adults conducted by YouGov between 12th May and 6th June 2017 indicated that almost a third of Brits over 16 question evolution.
A similar study was also done in Canada.
Both surveys had unexpected results. While most respondents believed in some sort of evolution, even many atheists had doubts about human evolution and the origin of consciousness.
According to the press release announcing the results:
“Over 1 in 10 UK atheists (12%) and nearly 1 in 3 Canadian atheists (31%), somewhat agree, agree or strongly agree with the statement: ‘Animals evolve over time but evolutionary science cannot explain the origins of human beings’.”
And
“"Nearly 1 in 5 UK atheists (19%) and over 1 in 3 of Canadian atheists (38%), somewhat agree, agree or strongly agree with the statement: Evolutionary processes cannot explain the existence of human consciousness’.”
Commenting on the results, Professor Fern Elsdon-Baker says, “It is not just that some religious people have questions about human evolution it is that some humans have questions about human evolution!”
The survey also included a somewhat misleading ingredient, as it equated creationism with the option “Humans and other living things were created by God and have always existed in their current form”.
9% of UK respondents and 15% of Canadians chose this view.
However, few, if any, creationists believe that animals haven’t changed since the days of Eden.
The fixity of species is a Darwinian myth. Genesis tells us that kinds don’t change into other kinds, but we still have hybrids like ligers (lion + tiger).
I suspect that many evolutionists won’t welcome the results. In 2009, after a survey found that most Brits doubted Darwin, Richard Dawkins diagnosed them as being pig ignorant.
And not much has changed since then, except that Dawkins has been referred to as the ultimate grumpy old man and has been banned by progressives for offending Muslims.
Sources:
Elsdon-Baker, Fern. 2017. A third of UK adults question evolution. Does that matter? New Scientist (6 September).
Hall, Alexander. 2917. Results of major new survey on evolution. Science and Religion Spectrum (5 September).
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