On the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, only 39% of Americans believe in his theory of evolution. This is, naturally, quite disturbing.
But there are even more interesting nuggets in that Gallup poll. How do you explain, for instance, the startling fact that 36% of Americans just don’t know whether or not they believe in evolution? The explanation is quite simple: they have no idea what it is. Only 55% of the people correctly identified the theory for which Charles Darwin is famous. (Granted, this is not the same as asking for its definition.) Politicians can debate whether we ought to teach students evolution and intelligent design side-by-side, but we ought to at least teach them something.
Last troubling statistic: Of the people who couldn’t identify the theory for which Darwin is famous, they split almost evenly (29%-30%) on the question of its validity. Thus, religious people are found to disbelieve in what they don’t know, and evolutionists are found to believe in it. A nice reversal of roles.