U.S. Public opinion polls on evolution& creation science

Polls by various groups, 2006 to 2010.
Beliefs in other countries. Sources of beliefs.

Sponsored link.

2006: CBS Poll:

A late 2006 poll by CBS showed that:

"Americans do not believe that humans evolved, and the vast majority says that even if they evolved, God guided the process.  Just 13 percent say that God was not involved. ... Support for evolution is more heavily concentrated among those with more education and among those who attend religious services rarely or not at all."

Poll results:

The creationist view seems to have received increasing support when compared to earlier polls. This might be partly because of the elderly who represent a gradually increasing part of the U.S. population. At the same time, support for naturalistic evolution has also increased. The nation may be becoming more polarized as belief in the compromise theistic evolution position -- that evolution happened , but under God's guidance -- has dropped. ₁

By any measure, the United States remains a highly religious nation, compared to other developed countries. American adults tend to hold more conservative beliefs. For example, the percentage of adults who believe that "the Bible is the actual word of God and it is to be taken literally, word for word" is 5 times higher in the U.S. than in Britain. Church attendance is about 4 times higher in the U.S. than it is in Britain. ₂ Similarly, according to one opinion poll, belief that "Human beings developed from earlier species of animals..." is much smaller in the United States (35%) than in other countries (as high as 82%).

2007: Gallup Poll

In the spring of 2007, following an all-candidates meeting of ten Republicans seeking the presidency, three denied a personal belief in evolution. This promoted the Gallup Organization to ask American adults between 2007-MAY-21-24: "Do you, personally, believe in evolution or not." This is one of the poorest polling questions that we have ever seen, because people generally hold one of three beliefs concerning origins:

	Naturalistic evolution: Evolution happened according to purely natural forces and processes without any divine guidance.
	Theistic evolution: Evolution happened and was/is guided by God.
	Creationism: Species were created separately by God.

When a person is asked if they believe in evolution, they might interpret the question as belief in naturalistic evolution only. Alternately, they might consider it as asking whether one believes in either naturalistic or theistic evolution. Pollsters tend to like simple yes and no answers. Sometimes they do not handle questions well where there are three discrete positions.

In addition, some people regard evolution as covering only the development of life forms from the first one-celled animal to the present diversity of plants and animals. Others define the term more widely, and include the origins of the universe, the development of galaxies, stars, planetary systems, development of mountain ranges, continental drift, etc.

The results, for what they are worth are a statistical draw:

	49% believe in "Evolution;"
	48% do not;
	2% have no opinion.

As expected, more highly educated adults believe in "evolution:"

	74% of people with post-graduate degrees believe in "evolution," as do:
	48% of college graduates
	50% of adults with some college
	41% of adults with high school or less.

More frequent attendance at religious services correlated with a lack of belief in "evolution:"

	24% of those who attend weekly believe in evolution, as do:
	52% of those who attend nearly weekly or monthly, and
	71% of those who attend seldom or never.

As expected, political affiliation reflects a difference of opinion on origins:

	Only 30% of Republicans believe in "evolution;" 68% do not.
	61% of independents believe in "evolution;" 37% do not.
	57% of Democrats believe in "evolution;" 40% do not.

The five main reasons why people say they do not believe in "evolution" are their belief Jesus Christ, belief in God, "due to my religion or faith," "not enough evidence," and belief in the Bible. ₃

2010: Gallup Poll showing breakdown by sex, education, etc:

Results for the poll reported on 2010-DEC-17 were:

These results show how difficult it is for people to maintain their beliefs in creationism in college. See above for similar 1991 data.

Beliefs elsewhere in the world:

Belief in creation science seems to be largely a U.S. phenomenon among countries the West. A British survey of 103 Roman Catholic priests, Anglican bishops and Protestant ministers/pastors, perhaps conducted in 1999 showed that:

	97% do not believe the world was created in six days.
	80% do not believe in the existence of Adam and Eve as actual persons. 4

Why do people hold these opinions?

The Wichita Eagle and the Kansas City Star, surveyed 604 respondents on 1999-OCT-22 to 26. Kansas had been a target of much interest and some ridicule after the state Board of Education dropped the necessity of teaching evolution in its public schools. ₅ Some interesting comments by Kansans were published. As always, beliefs seem to be derived from people's fundamental interpretation of the Bible:

	Auctioneer Gary Corwin said: "I believe that the Lord God created everything, just like the Bible says, I don't think we came from apes." [Darwin was misquoted over a century ago by a reviewer of one of Darwin's books. He said that Darwin believed that humans are the descendants of apes. Actually Darwin had written that humans and apes had a common ancient ancestor. This misquote has remained active ever since.]
	The National Center for Science Education, which promotes the  teaching of evolution. Spokesperson Eugenie Scott commented: "It goes to the meaning and purpose of life. I think many Americans believe that somehow they are less special to God if they evolved from nonhuman animals." [Author's note: The main alternative to evolution is found in Genesis which states that Adam came from dirt.]
	The Rev. Victor Calcote, pastor of Epworth United Methodist Church in Wichita KS stated: "I believe there is a God that's in control of creation. I've never gotten hung up on how he did it." He added: "I don't appreciate some of the caricatures of Kansans. Just because our school board voted that way doesn't mean we're [all] a bunch of bumbling idiots."

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. "GOP debate reveals widespread ignorance of science, startling role of how religion is affecting politics, culture," AANews newsletter, 2007-MAY-06.
2. Johnathan Moore, "What do Americans believe about the origin of species," Public Religion Project, 1998-OCT-12.
3. Frank Newport, "Evolution Beliefs," Gallup Organization, 2007-JUN-11, at: http://www.galluppoll.com/
4. News item in ReligionToday for 1999-DEC-29. They quoted the Conservative News Service. Original source of data was not specified.
5. Most Kansans for evolution: Majority polled think kids should study, be tested,"  Associated Press, 1999-NOV-9.

Copyright © 1995 to 2010 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally published on 1995-NOV. 
Last update: 2010-DEC-26
Author: B.A. Robinson

Sponsored link

Web ReligiousTolerance.org

Page Translator: This page translator works on Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and Safari browsers only After translating, click on the "show original" button at the top of this page to restore page to English.