EvoluTion And SoCiETy 577
Creationism and Science
Creationism
More than 50 percent of people in the United States deny
or doubt evolution, and most of those believe that the
human species was created directly by God (Harris Poll,
December 2013).^1 People who hold this belief are often
referred to as creationists. In contrast, a great majority
of people in Europe do not question the reality of evolu-
tion (even in countries such as Italy that have an officially
established religion), and they are often astonished that
antiscientific attitudes on evolution flourish in the techno-
logically and scientifically most prominent country in the
world. There is wide opposition to evolution in many Mus-
lim countries, but evolution (although not human evolu-
tion) is widely taught [6, 55]. Among 34 Western countries
(and Japan), Turkey ranks lowest in public acceptance of
evolution, and the United States second lowest (FIGURE
22.1). Creationist pressure has greatly weakened science
education in the United States, for even teachers who
accept evolution often compromise their teaching, or min-
imize their coverage, in order to avoid controversy [11].
Some high-school biology textbooks and teachers convey
the impression that the evidence for evolution (and even
for the great age of Earth) is doubtful.^2
Most disbelievers in evolution reject the idea because
they think it conflicts with their religious beliefs. For
Christian and Jewish fundamentalists, evolution conflicts
with their literal interpretation of the Bible, especially the
first chapters of Genesis, which portray God’s creation of
the heavens, Earth, plants, animals, and humans in six
days. However, many Western religions understand these
biblical descriptions to contain symbolic truths, not literal
or scientific ones. Many deeply religious people accept
evolution, viewing it as the natural mechanism by which
God has enabled creation to proceed. Some scientists,
including some researchers in evolutionary biology and
some of the most impassioned opponents of creationism,
subscribe to this view (see [76, 77]). Some religious leaders
have made clear that they accept evolution. (See an array
of such statements in the book “Voices for Evolution,” available for free download
at http://www.ncse.com, the website of the National Center for Science Education.) For
example, Pope John Paul II affirmed the validity of evolution in 1996, although he
reserved a divine origin for the human soul. (The text of his letter was reprinted in
the Quarterly Review of Biology 72: 381–396 [December 1997].) The pope’s position
was close to the argument generally known as theistic evolution, which holds that
God established natural laws (such as natural selection) and then let the universe
run on its own, without further supernatural intervention.(^1) See https://ncse.com/news/2013/12/evolution-new-harris-poll-0015255.
(^2) See, for example, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_and_evolution_in_public_
education_in_the_United_States#Recent_developments_in_state_education_programs.
Futuyma Kirkpatrick Evolution, 4e
Sinauer Associates
Troutt Visual Services
Evolution4e_22.01.ai Date 12-19-2016
20 40 60 80 100
Iceland (500)
Denmark (1013)
Sweden (1023)
France (1021)
Japan (2146)
United Kingdom (1308)
Norway (976)
Belgium (1024)
Spain (1035)
Germany (1507)
Italy (1006)
Netherlands (1005)
Hungary (1000)
Luxembourg (518)
Ireland (1008)
Slovenia (1061)
Finland (1006)
Czech Republic (1037)
Estonia (1000)
Portugal (1009)
Malta (500)
Switzerland (999)
Slovak Republic (1241)
Poland (999)
Austria (1034)
Croatia (1000)
Romania (1005)
Greece (1000)
Bulgaria (1008)
Lithuania (1003)
Latvia (1034)
Cyprus (505)
United States (1484)
Turkey (1005)
Response
True
Not sure
False
FIGURE 22.1 Public acceptance of evolution in the United States,
Japan, and 32 European countries in 2005, according to opinion
polls. Blue versus red segments indicate the percentage of people
who said that evolution is true versus false. The numbers for each
country are sample sizes. (After [75].)
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