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winterbadgerThe three Republican presidential candidates who indicated last month that they do not believe in evolution may have been taking a safe stance on the issue when it comes to appealing to GOP voters.
A Gallup poll released Monday said that while the country is about evenly split over whether the theory of evolution is true, Republicans disbelieve it by more than 2-to-1.
Republicans saying they don't believe in evolution outnumbered those who do by 68 percent to 30 percent in the survey. Democrats believe in evolution by 57 percent to 40 percent, as do independents by a 61 percent to 37 percent margin.
from a CBS News article
What I find dispiriting is not that nearly 70% of Republicans believe in the Tooth Fairy, but that nearly half of *Democrats* do as well, and over a third of independents.
What next? Are Americans still big supporters of the Flat Earth Theory? Are we convincned that the Sun and the planets revolve around the Earth, perhaps in a series of concentric crystal spheres? Are we going back to trial by fire and water sometime soon?
Don't tell me this isn't the effect of religious fanaticism. Ignorance and lack of education can produce a lack of knowledge, but only mysticism and dogma actively struggle agaisnt science.
A Gallup poll released Monday said that while the country is about evenly split over whether the theory of evolution is true, Republicans disbelieve it by more than 2-to-1.
Republicans saying they don't believe in evolution outnumbered those who do by 68 percent to 30 percent in the survey. Democrats believe in evolution by 57 percent to 40 percent, as do independents by a 61 percent to 37 percent margin.
from a CBS News article
What I find dispiriting is not that nearly 70% of Republicans believe in the Tooth Fairy, but that nearly half of *Democrats* do as well, and over a third of independents.
What next? Are Americans still big supporters of the Flat Earth Theory? Are we convincned that the Sun and the planets revolve around the Earth, perhaps in a series of concentric crystal spheres? Are we going back to trial by fire and water sometime soon?
Don't tell me this isn't the effect of religious fanaticism. Ignorance and lack of education can produce a lack of knowledge, but only mysticism and dogma actively struggle agaisnt science.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-21 06:31 pm (UTC)There was a marvelous piece on the History Channel (?) the other day which started off all scientific and serious and stuff, talking about the guy who investigated the Tunguska event in the 1920s, then transferring, without almost any serious discussion of meteorite or asteroid impact, to a Russian theory that it was the result of space aliens. Nowhere did they reveal that the author of this theory was a noted *science fiction writer*; instead, they suggested he was a noted *scientist*.
I think I'm going to start referring to it as the Mystery Channel...
Actually, I find staggering amounts of ignorance regaring evolution even in the half-scientific field. People believe that evolution means progressing to something "better"
Indeed. 'Progress' has that terrifically loaded connotation. I'm also astounded by the virulence with which many scientists INSIST that there can be no place for religion or faith in the examination of nature. Equally as foolish and wrong-headed as those who insist that religion is the only source of truth.
There are so many people out there that *need* to feel as though they will be taken care of.
What I find most disturbing is the tendency of so many religions to try to assert their ability to answer all questions, provide a rationale for eveything, and assure people that if you follow their system we will be happy then, when they fail (as anyone would), instead of being sensible and saying "Oh, well, we really *can't* explain that," (as some religions have the sense to do), they invoke the Afterlife and say that this world "isn't really real" or "is just a precursor of True Life" or some other rubbish. It's a bad, bad practice, because it shifts the whole focus of moral and ethical teaching from the obvious consequences of our actions on the world around us to some imaginary future to which they can claim sole knowledge and make up any old rules they like.
All drive-by with my comments today.
Date: 2007-06-21 07:27 pm (UTC)Hee! I call it The Hitlery Channel myself.
Making jokes so that I don't have to think about those stats. LA LA LA.