June 06, 2006

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Scan) - Adults in the United States are divided over the origin of life, according to a poll by Gallup released by USA Today. 46 per cent of respondents think God created human beings in their present form, and 36 per cent say man developed from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process. A further 13 per cent think God played no part in the evolution of human bein

(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Adults in the United States are divided over the origin of life, according to a poll by Gallup released by USA Today. 46 per cent of respondents think God created human beings in their present form, and 36 per cent say man developed from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process. A further 13 per cent think God played no part in the evolution of human beings.

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, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg voiced his views on the topic during a commencement address at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, declaring, "It boggles the mind that nearly two centuries after Darwin, and 80 years after John Scopes was put on trial, this country is still debating the validity of evolution. In Kansas, Mississippi and elsewhere, school districts are now proposing to teach intelligent design—which is really just creationism by another name—in science classes alongside evolution."

Polling Data

Which of the following statements comes closest to your views on the origin and development of human beings? 1) Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process; 2) Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process; 3) God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.

	May 2006	Sept. 2005 (*)	Nov. 2004
Man developed, with God guiding	36%	31%	38%
Man developed, but God had no part in process	13%	12%	13%
God created man in present form	46%	53%	45%
Other / No opinion	5%	4%	4%

(*) The September 2005 poll question was: "Which of the following statements comes closest to your views on the origin and development of human beings? 1) Human beings have evolved over millions of years from other forms of life and God guided this process; 2) Human beings have evolved over millions of years from other forms of life, but God had no part in this process; 3) God created human beings in their present form exactly the way the Bible describes it."

Source: Gallup / CNN / USA Today
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,001 American adults, conducted from May 8 to May 11, 2006. Margin of error is 3 per cent.