Poll finds public still has doubts about evolution

On Darwin's 200th birthday, evolution is still controversial.

By Greg Young

Published Feb. 16, 2009

While Abraham Lincoln's birthday was celebrated last Thursday, there was another highly influential person born on the same day: Charles Darwin, the original author of the theory evolution.

Although Lincoln's public legacy is largely cemented -- he was just named the best presidential leader according to a poll of historians done by C-SPAN -- the public legacy around Darwin and his famous theory is still largely undecided.

A Gallup poll found 39 percent of people believe in the theory of evolution, whereas 25 percent do not believe in the theory and 36 percent of respondents had no opinion either way. The Gallup poll was released last Thursday, coinciding with Darwin's birthday, and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

MU psychology professor David Geary said the religious implications of evolution have a large influence on whether people accept it as fact.

"People in the world kind of have various beliefs about their ancestors and where they came from," Geary said. "Evolution kind of runs counter to that. It's a different way of thinking."

Geary said creationism advocates have religious interests in mind.

"There are a lot of benefits to religion, but its not science and it doesn't belong in science classrooms," Geary said.

In Missouri, there have been a few attempts to allow scientific evidence disputing evolution to be taught in schools.

Last year, Rep. Robert Cooper, R-Camdenton, drafted a bill that would have allowed teachers to teach and explain the scientific strengths and weaknesses of theories of biological or chemical evolution.

The bill never made it out of the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, now led by Rep. Maynard Wallace, R-Thornfield.

Wallace said if Cooper introduced the bill again, they would "give it a good look." Wallace was skeptical the bill would have any traction if it were to be voted on before the entire state legislature.

"I think it would probably have a tough time on the floor," Wallace said.

Some groups, including the Missouri Association for Creation, are looking to raise awareness for creationism as a scientific theory.

Former MU professor James Karnes, mid-Missouri's MAC chapter leader, said the group does not advocate teaching the Bible in school. But, he expressed doubt about the theory of evolution.

"What we want to do is teach good science," Karnes said. "Darwinian evolution is not good science. It is bereft of all scientific evidence," Wallace said. "Even the fossil record shows that every creature in the fossil record appears fully formed. There is not one undisputed transitional form in the fossil record that shows how species change from one organism to another."

These issues will be addressed on campus March 13-15, when Bond Life Sciences Center will host "Darwin's Ongoing Revolution," an event that will bring speakers from several universities to talk about Darwin's impacts on various fields.

Among the speakers are Ann Gibbons, the author of "The First Human: The Quest to Find Our Earliest Ancestors," and creationism expert Ron Numbers. Geary, who focuses on the psychological aspect of evolution, will also speak.