Yet another poll indicates that Americans believe creation should be included in US public school classrooms.
Yet another poll indicates that Americans believe creation should be included in US public school classrooms.
Channel One, a secular broadcast company that airs a daily program for public schools, asked students, “Which theory should be taught in your classroom?” The choices were creation, evolution, or both. A majority of students (52 percent) said “both.” Another 31 percent said “creation,” and only 17 percent said “evolution.”1
The poll was posted on ChannelOne.com as part of a January 8 story about Rodney LeVake, a Christian teacher who was forced out of his biology classroom in Minnesota simply because he taught evidence against evolution. (See Supreme Court: Don’t Teach Evolution Difficulties!)
Of course, this is only a web survey designed for public-school students, so it lacks statistical validity as a representation of the entire country. But the numbers are in keeping with professional polls. A nationwide poll reported in March 2000, for example, found that 79% of Americans believe that creation should be taught in some form in public schools. The liberal group People For the American Way commissioned the poll.2 (See America Says: “Teach Creation in Public Schools!”)
A series of Gallup polls from 1982 to 2001 reveal similar findings (although the question was framed differently). In these surveys, almost one half of Americans said God created human beings within the past 10,000 years or so, which is essentially the biblical model. Another 35 to 40 percent believe that humans evolved over millions of years from lesser creatures, but God guided the process. Only around 11 percent of Americans held to a strictly evolutionary view of human origins, with God playing no part in the process.3
Unlike the majority of science teachers and scientists, a large number of Americans can see the serious scientific problems with evolutionary theory and believe that a competing view should be taught to young people.4
So why is it that the minority determines what the majority is being taught? Ken Ham, president of AiG–U.S., explains:
It’s more important than ever that Christians get out the truth about the creation/evolution debate, exposing the elitism of the educational establishment, which scorns the majority and wants to squelch alternative viewpoints.
Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.