POLL SHOWS SUPPORT FOR TEACHING 'CREATIONISM'
Finding likely to add to debate over evolution education
NBC/Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Americans are divided over whether humans
and other living things evolved over time or have existed in their
present form since the beginning of time, according to a new poll.
People on both sides of that argument think students should hear
about various theories, however.
Nearly two-thirds of those in a Pew Research Center poll, 64
percent, say they believe "creationism" should be taught alongside
"evolution" - a finding likely to spark more controversy about
what is taught in the schools.
That controversy could be related to the difficulty of measuring
public sentiment about teaching evolution, creationism or the more
recent concept of "intelligent design," a Pew official said.
"We acknowledge there may be some confusion about the
meaning of these terms," said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew
Forum on Religion and Public Life. But Lugo said the findings
suggest widespread support for teaching students different ideas
about how life began.
"What this basically tells us is that in contentious issues, many
people take the default position - teach both sides and let people
make up their own minds," Lugo said.
"Intelligent design" is a movement among some scholars over the
past 15 years that says Charles Darwin's theory of evolution - that
natural selection caused gradual biological changes over time -
cannot fully explain either how life originated or how extremely
complex life forms emerged. An undefined "intelligence" must
therefore have been involved, they contend.
In the poll by the Pew Research Center, 42 percent of those
surveyed held strict "creationist" views that "living things have
existed in their present form since the beginning of time."
Creationism generally refers to a literal reading of the Bible's story
of the creation of man.
Almost half, 48 percent, said they believed humans have evolved
over time. Some of those people, 26 percent of all those polled,
said they believe evolution occurred through natural selection, and
another 18 percent of all those polled, said evolution was guided
by a supreme being.
Eugenie Scott, executive director for the National Center of
Science Education, questioned whether the poll was a reflection
of support for teaching "creationism" in school. The center
supports the teaching of evolution in schools.
"What the poll reflects is the power of the idea of fairness in
American culture," she said. "We feel strongly we should always
hear both sides."
Some want to see evolution taught in a broader context. Warren
Nord, a professor of philosophy at the University of North
Carolina, said it's important for students to learn about evolution in
context with culture generally. "Students should understand the
controversy," Nord said. Different ideas "should be addressed in
science classes. All science textbooks and courses should locate
them in a larger cultural conversation about how to make sense of
nature."
The poll of 2,000 adults was conducted July 7-17 and has a
margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
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