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Most Americans Agree with Evolution [new poll]
Angus Reid Consultants ^ | 01 September 2006 | Staff

Posted on 08/31/2006 7:42:01 PM PDT by PatrickHenry

More adults in the United States believe the theory of evolution is correct, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. 51 per cent of respondents think that humans and other living things evolved over time, while 42 per cent say they existed in their present form since the beginning of time.

Charles Darwin’s "The Origin of Species" was first published in 1859. The book details the British naturalist’s theory that all organisms gradually evolve through the process of natural selection. Darwin’s views were antagonistic to creationism, the belief that a more powerful being or a deity created life.

In the United States, the debate on the topic accelerated after the 1925 Scopes trial, which tested a law that banned the teaching of evolution in Tennessee public schools. In 2004, Georgia’s Cobb County was at the centre of a controversy on whether science textbooks that explain evolutionary theory should include disclaimer stickers.

The theory of intelligent design suggests certain biological mechanisms are too complex to have developed without the involvement of a powerful force or intelligent being.

Last month, Austrian cardinal Christoph Schoenborn said the two views are not necessarily incompatible, declaring, "There is no conflict between science and religion, but a debate between a materialist interpretation of the results of science and a metaphysical philosophical interpretation. (...) The possibility that the Creator used evolution as a tool is completely acceptable for the Catholic faith."

Polling Data

Some people think that humans and other living things evolved over time. Others think that humans and other living things existed in their present form since the beginning of time. Which of these comes closest to your view?

Jul. 2006

Jul. 2005

Evolved over time

51%

48%

Existed in their present form
since the beginning of time

42%

42%

Don’t know / Refused

7%

10%

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press Methodology: Telephone interviews with 2,003 American adults, conducted from Jul. 6 to Jul. 19, 2006. Margin of error is 3 per cent.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: believeinevolution; consensusscience; crevolist; genesis1; niceosity; thewordistruth
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To: YHAOS

Now THAT'S a philosophy I can agree with!

:^)


461 posted on 09/04/2006 7:00:11 AM PDT by spinestein (Look! It's a ELEPHANT!)
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To: YHAOS; MHGinTN; betty boop
[ "I was once given the analogy of water for the trinity; God in three persons just as water may take any of three states: water vapor, liquid, or ice." ]

Actually every element on the periodic table can have three states.. Gas, Liquid , or Solid.. Could be the "Triune God" being a creator, paints(creates) things with his personality.. as any master painter does..

How bout this analogy.. about being three persons in one.. I can be a Son, Father, and Grandfather all at the same time while still living.. Timing is everything, time is "if'y".. No getting away from the "observer problem"...

462 posted on 09/04/2006 8:20:07 AM PDT by hosepipe (CAUTION: This propaganda is laced with hyperbole.)
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To: hosepipe; MHGinTN; betty boop
"I can be a Son, Father, and Grandfather all at the same time while still living"

And each according to the function to be fulfilled. Good points all, hosepipe.

463 posted on 09/04/2006 8:56:35 AM PDT by YHAOS
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To: Van Jenerette
I also challenge my students; 'If evolution is correct and a species evolves and adapts to it's environment; someday can we expect(since equitorial Africa is the 'cradle' of man) to see Naked Eskimos living above the Artic Circle as they adapt to their surroundings according to evolution's premise?

Why do you believe that the theory of evolution would predict such an event?
464 posted on 09/04/2006 12:39:38 PM PDT by Dimensio (http://angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif <-- required reading before you use your next apostrophe!)
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To: YHAOS; hosepipe; Alamo-Girl; marron
And each according to the function to be fulfilled. Good points all, hosepipe. I definitely agree!
465 posted on 09/04/2006 2:05:56 PM PDT by betty boop (Beautiful are the things we see...Much the most beautiful those we do not comprehend. -- N. Steensen)
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To: Doctor Stochastic

Many many years ago when I was twenty three,
I got married to a widow who was pretty as could be.
This widow had a grown-up daughter
Who had hair of red.
My father fell in love with her,
And soon the two were wed.
This made my dad my son-in-law
And changed my very life.
My daughter was my mother,
For she was my father's wife.

To complicate the matters worse,
Although it brought me joy,
I soon became the father
Of a bouncing baby boy.

My little baby then became
A brother-in-law to dad.
And so became my uncle,
Though it made me very sad.

For if he was my uncle,
Then that also made him brother
To the widow's grown-up daughter
Who, of course, was my step-mother.

Father's wife then had a son,
Who kept them on the run.
And he became my grandson,
For he was my daughter's son.

My wife is now my mother's mother
And it makes me blue.
Because, although she is my wife,
She's my grandmother, too.

If my wife is my grandmother,
Then I am her grandchild.
And every time I think of it,
It simply drives me wild.

For now I have become
The strangest case you ever saw.
As the husband of my grandmother,
I am my own grandpa!



By Dwight B. Latham
and Moe Jaffe


466 posted on 09/04/2006 2:30:54 PM PDT by Doctor Stochastic (Vegetabilisch = chaotisch ist der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
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To: YHAOS; MHGinTN
... I don't know of anywhere that a serious attempt has been made to actually teach ID ..

I'm not aware of any "serious" attempts to draw up a curriculum; the DI discourages teaching it, prefering "teach the controversy"

467 posted on 09/04/2006 5:09:24 PM PDT by Virginia-American
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To: Van Jenerette; PatrickHenry
I also challenge my students; 'If evolution is correct and a species evolves and adapts to it's environment; someday can we expect(since equitorial Africa is the 'cradle' of man) to see Naked Eskimos living above the Artic Circle as they adapt to their surroundings according to evolution's premise?

Check out some of the adaptations that are already in place, not just for "Eskimos" but also for inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego.

In both regions the inhabitants are able to stand much colder temperatures than more equatorial groups--through adaptations.

Give it a little time! Both groups are extremely young on the evolution time scale.

468 posted on 09/04/2006 7:44:00 PM PDT by Coyoteman (Evolution is real, deal with it!)
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To: balrog666

The Wicker Man



Burning Man Festival


469 posted on 09/05/2006 5:34:33 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
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To: stands2reason
...but I've never seen a creo do the same.

NEVER?!


Shame on you Creos who act badly!

470 posted on 09/05/2006 5:35:57 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
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To: Tulsa Ramjet
Being like God and without grace, is narcissism, greed, power, depravity, materialistic.

Why are you fighting this?

'Cause it's inaccurate. You'd have to show, from the Scriptures, thar Eve KNEW all these things.

It's plain, from the Word, that 'she was deceived.'

471 posted on 09/05/2006 5:39:11 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
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To: Phibes

And they NEVER seem to ask how often or how my wife and I, do it!


472 posted on 09/05/2006 5:40:36 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
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To: Jorge
Considering the Bible predicts most of mankind would turn to false teachings and become delusional in the end times, I'm surprised more people haven't fallen for evolution.

NIV 2 Timothy 4:2-4
2. Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.
3. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
4. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

473 posted on 09/05/2006 5:54:36 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
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To: Oztrich Boy

"High fives all around"


474 posted on 09/05/2006 5:55:46 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
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To: betty boop; MHGinTN

NIV Colossians 1:19-20
19. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
20. and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.


475 posted on 09/05/2006 5:58:47 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
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To: Dimensio
Why do you believe that the theory of evolution would predict such an event?

Because he doesn't understand the concept of selective pressure. He doesn't understand that unless there are Eskimoes who are not reproducing for wont of being less able to strut around naked in the snow than some of their, by genetic chance, hardier peers, there is no reason to expect any aggregate genetic movement in that direction within the population over time.

Of course, if Eskimo women decided they preferred only to mate with guys who streaked around the ice fields naked, that would change the equation, as would the complete disappearance of the human ability to manufacture coats.

476 posted on 09/05/2006 5:59:05 AM PDT by RogueIsland (.)
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To: spinestein
Incidentally, I wonder how many followers of The Bible or The Torah or The Koran or The Book of Mormon ever ponder if they may have gambled their souls on the wrong holy book.

100% ?

477 posted on 09/05/2006 6:01:45 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
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To: Dimensio
Why do you believe that the theory of evolution would predict such an event?

It's the espousers of the ToE that 'make preditions'.

478 posted on 09/05/2006 6:04:05 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
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To: RogueIsland

(We'd have to take a Northern #^@$$*@^ poll to find out!


;^)


479 posted on 09/05/2006 6:06:09 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
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To: PatrickHenry
Most Americans Agree with their Public School Teachers [new poll]
480 posted on 09/05/2006 6:09:30 AM PDT by unspun (What do you think? Please think, before you answer.)
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