An evolution poll

Gavin White at UMR blogs:

We asked New Zealanders which of the following statements came closest to their views on the origin and development of human beings: 

• A) Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process 
• B) Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process 
• C) God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last ten thousand years or so

To keep the write-up clear, I’ll refer to Statement A as ‘intelligent design’, Statement B​ as ‘pure evolution’ and Statement C as ‘creationism’.

I like that they didn’t just ask people do they believe in evolution or creationism but actually gave them statements to choose from. A good approach in my opinion, as different people may think creationism means different things.

The numbers show that, amongst New Zealanders:

• 26% believe in ‘intelligent design’
• 45% believe in ‘pure evolution’
• 23% believe in ‘creationism’
• 6% are unsure.

I’m surprised the level for “pure” creationism is so high, ie that one in four said they think humanity is less than 10,000 years old.

As you might expect, the American numbers are quite different:

• 32% of Americans believe in ‘intelligent design’
• 15% believe in ‘pure evolution’
• 46% believe in ‘creationism’
• 7% are unsure.

Only 15% of Americans believe in “pure evolution”. Oh dear. Now that I have a problem with people believing in intelligent design. There can be no proof for or against intelligent design. I can’t be certain there isn’t a creator who has been nudging things along.

However I can be pretty certain that humanity is more than 10,000 years old. Unless God spent a lot of time and effort in laying fake clues for us!