Polls and Surveys Archives - Creation and Science Chronicle

American Grace: How Religion Divides

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 21:53:45 +0000

What a sad conclusion this article makes. Apparently the authors believe that pastors will repackage their message to make Christianity more palatable. Judging from what we’ve seen from various ‘new’ movements such as the Emergent church and other appeals to “buffet-style” Christianity, they are correct…but a bit late in pointing this out!

Losing faith
Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell Robert D. Putnam, a professor of public policy at Harvard University, and David E. Campbell, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, are the authors of “American Grace: How Religion Divides
Los Angeles Times, page A33.
October 17, 2010

Young people are rejecting organized religion they see as too politically conservative.

The most rapidly growing religious category today is composed of those Americans who say they have no religious affiliation. While middle-aged and older Americans continue to embrace organized religion, rapidly increasing numbers of young people are rejecting it.

As recently as 1990, all but 7% of Americans claimed a religious affiliation, a figure that had held constant for decades. Today, 17% of Americans say they have no religion, and these new “nones” are very heavily concentrated among Americans who have come of age since 1990. Between 25% and 30% of twentysomethings today say they have no religious affiliation — roughly four times higher than in any previous generation.

So, why this sudden jump in youthful disaffection from organized religion? The surprising answer, according to a mounting body of evidence, is politics. Very few of these new “nones” actually call themselves atheists, and many have rather conventional beliefs about God and theology. But they have been alienated from organized religion by its increasingly conservative politics.

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Another New Creation vs Evolution Poll in Canada

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:16:30 +0000

Canadians divided on creation, evolution
By Misty Harris (Canwest News Service)
Leader-Post (Canada), p. B8.
April 11, 2009

The chicken-or-the-egg question of human existence is looking more and more like a philosophical omelette, with a new poll revealing a jumble of Christian beliefs when it comes to creation and evolution.

The survey conducted for Canwest News Service and Global National for Easter found 30 per cent of Canadians who believe in God also believe in evolution. Another 23 per cent of believers say they agree with ideas put forth by both creationists and evolutionists.

Another Poll of United Kingdom Views on Creation, Evolution, and ID

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:54:23 +0000

Four out of five Britons repudiate creationism
Ian Sample, Science correspondent
The Guardian (United Kingdom), p. 10.
March 2, 2009

The east of England may be the most godless region of the UK, according to a “belief map” published by a theology think tank today. Almost half of adults there believe the theory of evolution makes God obsolete, and more than 80% disagree with creationism and intelligent design, which propose that humans were created by God in the past 10,000 years, and that life owes its complexity to divine intervention.

The map was drawn up by the think tank Theos following a survey of 2,060 people across the country who were chosen to be representative of the adult population.

The survey, which was conducted to mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, found that nearly half of the British adult population could not name the country’s greatest naturalist as the author of On the Origin of Species, the 1859 book that introduced evolution through natural selection to a sceptical Victorian society.

Another United Kingdom Survey Shows Support for Creation

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:59:20 +0000

Half of UK population ‘believe in creationism’
by Jonathan Wynne-Jones
The Sunday Telegraph (United Kingdom), p. 15.
February 1, 2009

BELIEF in creationism is widespread in Britain, a survey has found.

More than half of the public believe the theory of evolution cannot explain the full complexity of life on Earth, and that a “designer” must have lent a hand, the findings suggest.

And one in three believe that God created the world within the past 10,000 years.

The survey, by respected polling firm ComRes, will fuel the debate around evolution and creationism ahead of next week’s 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin.

Professor Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist and author of The God Delusion, said the findings revealed a worrying level of scientific ignorance among Britons.

British Poll Indicates 1/3 of Teachers Support Creation

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:24:20 +0000

The poll results can be found at Ipsos MORI’s website: Teachers Dismiss Calls For Creationism To Be Taught In School Science Lessons. A growing collection of poll and survey results can also be found at the Creation History Project Wiki.

Would you Adam and Eve it? Quarter of science teachers would teach creationism
by James Randerson
The Guardian (UK), p. 3
December 23, 2008

More than a quarter of science teachers in state schools believe that creationism should be taught alongside evolution in science lessons, according to a national poll of primary and secondary teachers.

The Ipsos/Mori poll of 923 primary and secondary teachers found that 29% of science specialists agreed with the statement: “Alongside the theory of evolution and the Big Bang theory, creationism should be TAUGHT in science lessons”

Latest Harris Poll on Public Belief in Evolution

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:24:30 +0000

Beliefs in God, UFOs prevail 1 in 3 doubt Darwin theory
by Jennifer Harper
Washington Times Daily, p. A5
December 12, 2008

Americans believe in God, angels, heaven, miracles — such traditional religious thinking is still much a part of the nation’s mind-set, according to research that also plumbs a few less traditional beliefs.

“Overall, more people believe in the devil, hell and angels than believe in Darwin´s theory of evolution,” said a Harris Poll released Thursday.

The numbers clearly favor the proverbial Big Man Upstairs: 80 percent say they believe in God; among those who attend church weekly, the number is 98 percent. Three-quarters believe in miracles, 73 percent believe in heaven, 71 percent say Jesus is the Son of God and 71 percent believe in angels, the survey found. Seven out of 10 say Jesus Christ rose from the dead and that the Bible is, all or in part, the “Word of God.”