Survey: U.S. Protestant pastors reject evolution

DoctorE · #1 by **DoctorE** » Jan 11, 2012 12:43 pm

Adam & Eve :lol:

America’s Protestant pastors overwhelmingly reject the theory of evolution and are evenly split on whether the earth is 6,000 years old, according to a survey released Monday by the Southern Baptist Convention.

When asked if “God used evolution to create people," 73% of pastors disagreed - 64% said they strongly disagreed - compared to 12% who said they agree.

Asked whether the earth is approximately 6,000 years old, 46% agreed, compared to 43% who disagreed.

A movement called Young Earth creationism promotes the 6,000-year-old figure, arguing that it is rooted in the Bible. Scientists say the earth is about 4.5 billion years old.

The Southern Baptist Convention survey, which queried 1,000 American Protestant pastors, also found that 74% believe the biblical Adam and Eve were literal people.

“Recently discussions have pointed to doubts about a literal Adam and Eve, the age of the earth and other origin issues," said Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, a division of the Southern Baptist Convention, in a report on LifeWay’s site. “But Protestant pastors are overwhelmingly Creationists and believe in a literal Adam and Eve.”

Continues: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/1 ... arths-age/

Animavore · #2 by **Animavore** » Jan 11, 2012 12:46 pm

And people look up to these fools as exemplars why again?

trubble76 · #3 by **trubble76** » Jan 11, 2012 12:47 pm

“But Protestant pastors are overwhelmingly Creationists and believe in a literal Adam and Eve. stupid.”

logical bob · #4 by **logical bob** » Jan 11, 2012 12:56 pm

Further down the article it says that another survey concluded that 40% of Americans think God created humans in their present form.

40%.

40% of people in the most scientifically developed country on Earth. I do not understand America.

Made of Stars · #5 by **Made of Stars** » Jan 11, 2012 1:00 pm

logical bob wrote:Further down the article it says that another survey concluded that 40% of Americans think God created humans in their present form.

40%.

40% of people in the most scientifically developed country on Earth. I do not understand America.

These statements are mutually incompatible.

falconjudge · #6 by **falconjudge** » Jan 11, 2012 3:29 pm

Turkey is the same way, I hear.

It's human nature. Beliefs are hard to forget; I had a stint as an atheist, now I'm a Christian again, because of some ridiculous arguments from human nature that my dad gave me. New-age-y stuff, too. Beliefs that you are raised with never really go away, no matter what arguments there are on either side.

logical bob · #7 by **logical bob** » Jan 11, 2012 3:31 pm

falconjudge wrote: Beliefs that you are raised with never really go away, no matter what arguments there are on either side.

This site is full of ex-believers who'll be sorry to hear that.

trubble76 · #8 by **trubble76** » Jan 11, 2012 4:49 pm

falconjudge wrote:Turkey is the same way, I hear.

It's human nature. Beliefs are hard to forget; I had a stint as an atheist, now I'm a Christian again, because of some ridiculous arguments from human nature that my dad gave me. New-age-y stuff, too. Beliefs that you are raised with never really go away, no matter what arguments there are on either side.

Sorry to hear you are like the baldy chap in the Matrix that wanted to be put back in.
:nono:

orpheus · #9 by **orpheus** » Jan 11, 2012 6:18 pm

logical bob wrote:Further down the article it says that another survey concluded that 40% of Americans think God created humans in their present form.

40%.

40% of people in the most scientifically developed country on Earth. I do not understand America.

I live here and I don't understand it.

Moonwatcher · **#10** by **Moonwatcher** » Jan 11, 2012 7:21 pm

orpheus wrote:
logical bob wrote:Further down the article it says that another survey concluded that 40% of Americans think God created humans in their present form.

40%.

40% of people in the most scientifically developed country on Earth. I do not understand America.

I live here and I don't understand it.

I think it's changing with each generation but a lot has to do with the inability to get it taught in high schools. While we talk about keeping Creationism out of schools, the religious are doing a great intimidation job of keeping science (evolution) from being taught there either.

Calilasseia · **#11** by **Calilasseia** » Jan 11, 2012 7:24 pm

And yet whilst doing this, they mendaciously erect the "expelled" lie. But does anyone expect professional creationists, who are constantly conspiring to corrupt and pervert science education, to be anything other than conniving, scheming, lying douchebags, on the basis of the vast body of evidence they've presented us with?

Shrunk · **#12** by **Shrunk** » Jan 11, 2012 7:57 pm

Made of Stars wrote:
logical bob wrote:Further down the article it says that another survey concluded that 40% of Americans think God created humans in their present form.

40%.

40% of people in the most scientifically developed country on Earth. I do not understand America.

These statements are mutually incompatible.

Not necessarily. If 40% of the population were under five feet tall, but 20% of the population were over seven feet tall, it could still be correct to call them the tallest people in the world. America's a strange place demographically. Lots of things seem to be bimodally distributed like that.

NilsGLindgren · **#13** by **NilsGLindgren** » Jan 11, 2012 8:18 pm

Calilasseia wrote:And yet whilst doing this, they mendaciously erect the "expelled" lie. But does anyone expect professional creationists, who are constantly conspiring to corrupt and pervert science education, to be anything other than conniving, scheming, lying douchebags, on the basis of the vast body of evidence they've presented us with?

Cali, as a well-known conniving, scheming, lying douchebag, I take offense at being compared to a professional creationist. We do have our standards, you know. :naughty:

Made of Stars · **#14** by **Made of Stars** » Jan 11, 2012 10:05 pm

logical bob · **#15** by **logical bob** » Jan 11, 2012 10:07 pm

Shrunk wrote:
Made of Stars wrote:
logical bob wrote:Further down the article it says that another survey concluded that 40% of Americans think God created humans in their present form.

40%.

40% of people in the most scientifically developed country on Earth. I do not understand America.

These statements are mutually incompatible.

Not necessarily. If 40% of the population were under five feet tall, but 20% of the population were over seven feet tall, it could still be correct to call them the tallest people in the world. America's a strange place demographically. Lots of things seem to be bimodally distributed like that.

Does anyone have anything on the geographical distribution of creationists? Is there some kind of urban/rural split?

Calilasseia · **#16** by **Calilasseia** » Jan 11, 2012 10:07 pm

Chances are Nils, even if you were all of the above, you'd still have better standards than the likes of Kent Hovind

Calilasseia · **#17** by **Calilasseia** » Jan 11, 2012 10:09 pm

Bob, I think it's more to do with state geography than urban versus rural. I think you'll find that creationism is especially prevalent in former slave states, not least because the Ku Klux Klan was an explicitly creationist organisation.

Just A Theory · **#18** by **Just A Theory** » Jan 11, 2012 10:12 pm

To be fair, if I was asked the question Did God use evolution to create people? then I would disagree too; and I'm an atheist.

To 'agree' with that question, you must first agree that god exists, then agree that he created people and thirdly agree that evolution was the mechanism by which that creation was accomplished. I'm not actually sure that any but a very small subset of theistic scientists (like Ken Miller) would be able to agree with the question as posed.

logical bob · **#19** by **logical bob** » Jan 11, 2012 10:18 pm

Calilasseia wrote:Bob, I think it's more to do with state geography than urban versus rural. I think you'll find that creationism is especially prevalent in former slave states, not least because the Ku Klux Klan was an explicitly creationist organisation.

Hmm. I wondered because probably the only place in the UK where creationism is a force to be reckoned with is the Outer Hebrides and remoter parts of the Highlands, where it remains the official position of a few small sects accustomed to controlling the social agenda and having a veto in the community. That kind of church doesn't survive movement of people and ideas very well and this could be why their like either died out or never took root in more cosmopolitan areas.

Calilasseia · **#20** by **Calilasseia** » Jan 11, 2012 11:32 pm

Go to places like Mississippi, Georgia or Texas, and you'll find vocal creationists in some numbers even in big cities.

Mind you, I'm slightly puzzled as to why the Duplicity Institute chose to site its headquarters in Seattle. Which I suspect quite a few of the American posters here will also regard as a puzzling choice. Seattle doesn't strike me as being a hot-bed for creationism of any sort, whereas if the DI had parked itself in Jackson, Mississippi or Atlanta, Georgia, this might have been more understandable, though given Atlanta's the home of Emory University, which amongst other things is partnered with the Carter Center, and has a decent track record in science, perhaps the absence of the DI from there is understandable.