By Ilene
The acceptance of evolution is remarkably low considering all the supporting evidence and our long-time ability to control the process, shape it, and explain and manipulate the molecular mechanisms. Currently, among Democrats and Independents, 27% to 30% still believe that humans "existed in present form since the beginning." Among Republicans, 48% hold that belief. (The Growing Partisan Divide on Evolution, Bill Moyers.)
The lack of proper science education in the US is a source of the mass-rejection of science. Creationist believers tend to be older and will be dying off sooner (evolution at work). But there's more at play than demographics. Republicans are becoming less likely to believe that life has evolved over time. Why?
The article below argues that herding behavior is involved. It quietly raises the possibility that the Republican party is slowing morphing into a religious cult.
(Chart from Bill Moyer's site, by Pew Research)
Why Republicans Don’t Believe In Evolution Anymore
The theory of evolution is right up there with the theory of gravity in terms of its universal acceptance among scientists. But, as we’ve learned from the climate change debate, politics has the power to trump science — and, according to a new Pew poll, it seems like political partisanship may be starting to take its toll on evolution. While a comfortable majority of Republicans accepted human evolution as fact in 2009, Pew finds a plurality now reject it — an astonishing 19 point reversal in four years.
It’s a finding that tells us a lot, both principally about the (ahem) evolution of the Republican Party in the past fours. In short, the kind of person who doesn’t believe in evolution is much more likely be a typical Republican today than four years ago — for reasons that have only a bit to do with the debate over evolution itself.
There are two keys to understanding what the Pew poll teaches us about Republicans. First, the drop in belief in evolution is among Republicans and, more or less, Republicans only. Acceptance of human evolution was basically the same among Democrats and independents in 2013 as it was in 2009. Second, the share of the total population that believes in evolution hasn’t changed at all. The drop in Republican belief doesn’t appear to be people changing their minds about evolution so much as people who already didn’t believe in evolution becoming Republicans.
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So on one look, the decline in Republican belief in evolution is perfectly consistent with one of the most fundamental trends in American politics: a greying, born-again Republican Party increasingly out of step with the rest of America’s political views.
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…A wealth of research into political psychology shows that people’s partisan affiliations affect their beliefs on basic facts.
In the evolution context, this suggests a feedback effect at work among Republicans. As the GOP becomes more associated with the creationist cause as a consequence of demographic shifts, Republicans start to feel more like being skeptical of evolution is their “team” position. So even Republicans who are demographically more likely to accept the basic science of evolution start to reject it, because that belief best harmonizes their beliefs with the perceived interest of their political party.
Full article Why Republicans Don't Believe In Evolution Anymore | ThinkProgress.
Picture credit: SHUTTERSTOCK (in the article)
