Proud to be an American Lagging Behind in this Race
by Kyle Butt, M.A.
Recent survey results indicate that America is “lagging” far behind. In fact, only one other country lags farther behind in this “race” than the United States—Turkey. In what category are Americans so far “behind”? Writer Ker Than reported that the U.S. has the second lowest percentage of people who accept evolution. That’s right. The percentage of Americans who accept evolution was lower than any other country in the 34-country survey except Turkey (Than, 2006). Jon Miller and his colleagues reported that between the years 1985-2005, “[t]he percentage of U.S. adults who accept evolution declined from 45 to 40 percent. The percentage overtly rejecting evolution also declined, from 48 to 39 percent. And the percentage of adults who were unsure increased, from 7 to 21 percent” (Than, 2006).
Ker Than listed several possible reasons for the United States’ “sub-par” performance. American Protestant fundamentalism, alleged ignorance of biological sciences, and a literal interpretation of the book of Genesis ranked among the top reasons for evolution’s rejection by many U.S. citizens.
It is interesting to note that several of those interviewed considered the rejection of evolution by so much of the U.S. populace to be somewhat of a failure. Even Than’s title, “U.S. Lags Behind Europe, Japan in Acceptance of Evolution,” suggests that the world is in a race to accept evolution and the United States is losing—something Americans hate to do.
In all actuality, however, the results of the survey indicate that citizens of the U.S. have been more judicious and accurate in their assessment of evolution than the other countries (except Turkey—75% reject evolution). Interesting, is it not, that evolution has been the standard textbook teaching in our public school system for the past forty years, and yet it has failed to convince even half of our population of its validity. Creation science has been ridiculed, censured, gagged, and maligned, but still has been able to influence millions of Americans to reject the false ideas and assumptions on which evolution is based.
In truth, the U.S. is not “lagging behind,” unless it is the blind acceptance of a false theory that never has had any legitimate scientific leverage when confronted with actual evidence. The United States and Turkey should be commended for their ability to discern between the facts and fallacious arguments clothed in the garb of “scientific authority.” Nations like Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and France, whose acceptance of evolution was 80% (with Japan at 78%), should be encouraged to open their eyes and critically evaluate the abundant scientific information that refutes the tenets of evolutionary theory (see Thompson and Harrub, 2002).
We at Apologetics Press have spent the last 27 years refuting evolution and defending the truth about creation. Other organizations in the United States have been equally as prolific, and some more so, in their defense of the scientific accuracy of creation. We are excited to have played even a small part in encouraging our fellow Americans to accept only those conclusions for which there is adequate evidence, thereby rejecting evolution. Indeed, at times like this, I am proud to be an American.
REFERENCES
Thompson, Bert and Brad Harrub (2002), “15 Answers to John Rennie and Scientific American’s Nonsense,” [On-line], URL:
http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2575.
Than, Ker (2006), “U.S. Lags Behind Europe, Japan in Acceptance of Evolution,” Fox News, August 11, [On-line], URL:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,207858 ,00.html.
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