The Evolution Revolution: Religious or Not, Most Americans Agree It Happened
Whether Americans came from Adam and Eve or primordial goo, a new study suggests this country has come down on the side of science, not faith.
A majority of Americans, six in 10, believes humans and other livings things have evolved over time, while about 30 percent say humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time, according to a recent Pew Research Center analysis.
For the first time, the study was able to pull samples large enough to break down some demographic differences and find, for example, that 53 percent of Hispanic Catholics believe humans have evolved over time, said senior researcher Cary Funk.
Often times, she explained there is data on Catholics’ views in the U.S., but the size of the sample of Hispanic Catholics isn’t large enough to look at the Hispanics separate from white, non-Hispanics.
“Those would be the two largest ethnic groups in Catholics,” Funk said. “We are seeing Hispanic Catholics are falling in the middle of the large religious groups with 31 percent saying humans existed in their present form.”
For other religious groups, nearly 80 percent of white, mainline Protestants thought humans and other living things have evolved over time, the study found. Those are the Protestants who say “no” or “don’t know” when they are asked whether they think of themselves as born again or evangelical Christians, according to Pew.
Meanwhile, a majority of born-again and evangelical Protestants and half of black Protestants disagreed, saying humans existed in their present form since the beginning of time.
Researchers were also surprised by the growth in the gap between party lines.
They found Republicans are less inclined today than they were in 2009 to say that humans have evolved over time, or 43 percent today versus 54 percent in 2009. For Democrats there has been little change, 67 percent believe humans evolved, versus 64 percent in 2009.
As for the gender gap, the study found men are somewhat more inclined than women to say that humans and animals have evolved over time.
Education also played a role in whether humans evolved over time or existed in present form: College graduates and those with more than a few years of school under their belt were more likely to say humans have evolved over time, the study found.
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Original article from TakePart
