Thoughts in a Haystack

Evolution, that is, the idea that human beings developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life

Definitely..Probably..Probably..Definitely..No.......Total..Total
true........true......false.....false.......opinion..true...false
18..........35........16........28..........3........53.....44


Creationism, that is, the idea that God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years

Definitely..Probably..Probably..Definitely..No.......Total..Total
true........true......false.....false.......opinion..true...false
39..........27........16........15..........3........66.....31

Geoffrey Layman, a politics and religion expert at the University of Maryland, says people are trying to reconcile science and religion. "They might believe the science, or they might see the science as hard to dismiss, and they don't necessarily take Genesis to be literal," he says. "But they do think that God played some role in directing this evolutionary process."

On the other hand, it may just be that the respondents are lying:

How familiar would you say you are with evolution

............Some-
Very........what......Not too...Not at all..No........Totally..Totally
familiar....familiar..familiar..familiar....Opinion...familiar.unfamiliar
41..........41........12........5...........1.........82.......17


There is no way that even a fraction of those numbers of Americans are remotely familiar with evolutionary theory. But maybe it is just a result of the fact that incompetent people often do not know that they are incompetent.

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Oh, and for the politicians ... only 15% of the population would be somewhat or much more likely to vote for an evolution-denying candidate, while 29% would be somewhat or much more likely to vote against them.
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Link - Posted by John Pieret @ 9:00 AM