A RECENT PEW FORUM U.S. Religious Landscape Survey found that the majority of Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, Catholic, Unaffiliated, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist Americans believe that "evolution is the best explanation for the origin of human life on earth". (51%, 54%, 58%, 72%, 77%, 80%, and 81%, respectively)
Yet only 48% of all Americans agree.
The difference is due to four other groups, who have the numbers to bring the average down: Muslims (45%), Historically Black Protestants (38%), Evangelical Protestants (24%), Mormons (22%), and Jehovah's Witnesses (8%).
I find these numbers interesting because they throw some light on the ongoing culture war.
A person's attitude toward evolution is a kind of barometer of his or her ability to think clearly: to weigh evidence, to be objective, to dialog rather than fight.
And it seems that a good number of us—atheist and religious—are moving in the right direction.
As for the rest, why does anyone reject the idea of evolution? Certainly not because it contradicts the Bible—it doesn't. Certainly not because there isn't enough scientific evidence to support is—there is.
So what's the motivation?
I think there are two clues in the list above. I can't speak about "Historical Black Protestants", since I know very little about that group, and I can't speak about Muslims since I know even less about Islam.
But of the groups who reject evolution, those two reject it the least. There are four things that can be safely said about the remaining groups, where over 75% reject evolution.
- They are groups which interpret their faith within a rather strict tradition. They prize conformity in a whole variety of ways: sexual mores; language usage; in some cases card playing, dancing, non-attendance at films; and, more to the point, the interpretation of the Bible.
If one of their members were to argue that the Bible actually endorses the idea of evolution, that person would not be likely to be listened to.
If one of their members were to argue that evolution should be accepted for scientific reasons, no matter what the Bible said, they would not be a member for long. - They define the world as Us vs. Them. There are, in their view, two kinds of people in the world, whether it's Christians and non-Christians, Mormons and non-Mormons, or Jehovah's Witnesses and non-Jehovah's Witnesses.
- They see the world as a struggle between Good and Evil.
- They embrace a primarily political rhetoric. They tend to base their conclusions on the basis of where and idea might lead as much (sometimes more than) on what the evidence for or against it is.
Had the idea of evolution been introduced first by their tradition, as a theory about how God created life—as it might have been given the creation stories in the Bible—they would have campaigned tirelessly to have it included in the school curriculum.
They would have seen any other theory as heresy, and would have embraced the scientific evidence supporting evolution as evidence of the truth of their faith.
But since the idea came from outside their tradition they perceive the act of embracing it as a step away from their tradition, and so will fight it to the death.
And, given the structure of their worldview, they are not likely to change their position too quickly.
But there's good news in the Pew poll as well as bad. The majority of Mainstream Protestants are already on the other side of the question, and even the groups I've been talking about have a minority within them who understand that evidence must outweigh tradition.
This is hopeful, not because of evolution itself—either the process, which will continue whether they like it or not, or the theory, which will continue to be studied with or without them.
It's hopeful because it's a measure of the change in general within our culture.
If you look at the list you'll notice that these groups are the same people who would like the country to become a theocracy, who would like the rules of their faith made the law of the land.
And they are right, on one score.
Choosing evidence over tradition, accepting that "godless scientists" may still be telling the truth, understanding that even scientific truth is a good thing, and that blind faith can be an evil, is a step on the slippery slope toward reason.
When they reach the bottom, I'll be there to greet them, along with my Mainstream Protestant, Atheist, Jewish, and Buddhist friends.
And the world will be a better place.
At least, that's what I think today.
