These different beliefs about the origins of the human race have long been
 important topics of public debate. The Kansas Board of Educations recent
 reversal of its previous decision to omit references to many evolutionary
 concepts in its public school standards has focused more attention on the
 topic in recent weeks. While much of the debate centers on issues
 surrounding the separation of church and state in public school
 classrooms, the discussions are often premised largely on individuals
 personal beliefs about Charles Darwins theory of evolution and the
 biblical theory of creationism.
 
 Americans More Likely to Identify Themselves as Creationists Than as
 Evolutionists
 
 Gallup has asked Americans several times over the last 20 years to choose
 between three statements that describe the origin and development of the
 human race. Generally speaking, the plurality of Americans have come down
 on the side of a creationist approach to human origins, while slightly
 fewer have agreed with a statement that reflects an evolutionary process
 guided by God, and only a small number have agreed with an evolutionary
 process in which God had no part.
 
 Most recently, in Gallups February 19-21 poll, 45% of respondents chose
 "God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time
 within the last 10,000 years or so," the statement that most closely
 describes biblical creationism. A slightly larger percentage, almost half,
 chose one of the two evolution-oriented statements: 37% selected "Human
 beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of
 life, but God guided this process" and 12% chose "Human beings have
 developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God
 had no part in this process."
 
 The public has not notably changed its opinion on this question since
 Gallup started asking it in 1982.
 
 Which of the following statements comes closest to your views on the
 origin and development of human beings -- [ROTATE 1-3/3-1: 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]?
 
 Humans developed, with God guiding
 Humans developed, but God had no part in process
 God created humans in present form
 OTHER (vol.)/No opinion

 2001 Feb 19-21 - 37%, 12%, 45%, 6%
 1999 Aug 24-26 - 40%, 9%,  47%, 4%
 1997 Nov 6-9    - 39%, 10%, 44%, 7%
 1993 Jun            - 35%, 11%, 47%, 7%
 1982                  - 38%, 9%,  44%, 9%
 
 After asking Americans which of the three statements on the origin of
 humans they agreed with, Gallup asked, by name, which of the two theories
 they believe in more. Given this choice, more than half of Americans say
 they believe in or lean toward the "theory of creationism" while far fewer
 believe in or lean toward the "theory of evolution" (57% for creationism
 vs. 33% for evolution) and one out of 10 say they are unsure.

 People who consider themselves to be political conservatives are much more
 likely than liberals to prefer the theory of creationism. Americans in the
 South and Midwest are more likely than people living in the East and West
 to believe in the creation theory. Perhaps most notably, those for whom
 religion is an important part of life (those who attend religious services
 every week) are far more likely to prefer the theory of creationism than
 are those who attend church less often (80% versus 47%, respectively).
 
 The first question reviewed above explains the precepts of the creationist
 and evolutionary approaches without mentioning the labels, while the
 second gives respondents only the labels without explanation. The results
 indicate some differences in interpretation based on which question is
 used. More Americans agree with the word "creationism" than agree with
 "evolution," but a slightly larger number choose an evolutionary
 explanation rather than a creationist explanation when given specifics.
 In order to better understand these issues, we examined the relationship
 between responses to these two questions, looking at how people who said
 they believed in or leaned toward one of the two theories answered the
 more specific question describing the three approaches to the origin and
 development of human beings.
 
 Generally, there is a good deal of consistency between responses to the
 two questions. The majority (two out of three) of the people who said they
 believed more in "creationism" selected the statement "God created human
 beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last
 10,000 years or so." But interestingly, more than one-quarter of
 "creationists" selected a statement that can be seen as compatible with
 the scientific findings of evolutionary scholars: "Human beings have
 developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God
 guided this process." Only 1% of "creationists" selected the evolutionary
 statement saying that "God had no part in the process." Thus, while almost
 no "creationists" believe that humans developed without Gods help, a not
 insignificant minority believes that human beings developed from lower
 forms of life, as evolutionary scientists suggest, but that God helped the
 process along.
 
 People who choose "evolution" as their preferred theory are most
 comfortable with the idea that God guided an evolutionary process of human
 development. A majority -- 51% -- selected the statement "Human beings
 have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life,
 but God guided this process," while 34% selected that statement with the
 condition that "God had no part in this process." Finally, just 10% chose
 the statement that God created human beings within just the last 10,000
 years.
 
 What do these findings tell us? First, only a very small minority of
 "evolutionists" choose a creationist explanation when confronted with the
 specifics of the theories. Thus, the vast majority of "evolutionists" are
 consistent and choose an evolutionary explanation, with or without Gods
 involvement.
 
 On the other hand, over one-quarter of Americans who say they believe in
 the creationist perspective choose an evolutionary statement -- albeit the
 one that has Gods involvement. Thus, it appears that a substantial
 proportion of "creationists" cannot be distinguished from the majority of
 "evolutionists" in the way they think about the origins and development of
 humankind. While 57% of Americans claim to lean toward the label of
 "creationist," in actuality, only 41% of Americans are "creationists" who
 do not support an evolutionary way of thinking about human development.
 The difference suggests that there is either a very broad interpretation
 of the term "creationism" -- one that does not support the biblical
 account of the creation of the human race -- or that there is
 misunderstanding about what the label "creationism" means, among at least
 some of the creation-leaning public.
 
 Public Doubtful About Whether Evidence Supports Darwins Theory
 
 Another question included in the recent poll asked directly about the
 evidence supporting Charles Darwins theory of evolution. Given a choice
 between three alternatives, only about one-third of Americans think that
 Charles Darwins theory is "well supported by evidence," while slightly
 more (39%) believe that it is not well supported, and that it is "just one
 of many theories" on this subject. A substantial percentage of Americans
 -- one in four -- felt they didnt know enough to say.
 
 Individuals with more education and people with higher incomes are more
 likely to think that evidence supports the theory of evolution. Younger
 people are also more likely than older people to think that evidence
 supports Darwins theory, perhaps reflecting the widespread teaching of
 evolution in the classroom in recent decades.
 
 Again, however, not all Americans are consistent in their beliefs.
 Seventeen percent of those who say evolution is the best theory to explain
 human origins feel that evidence does not support the theory well in
 response to this specific question about Darwins theory, while 16%
 indicate they dont know enough to say. Among people who prefer
 creationism, one out of five says the evidence supports Darwins theory,
 while 24% report they dont know enough to say.
 
 Only 34% of Americans consider themselves to be "very informed" about the
 theory of evolution, while a slightly greater percentage -- 40% --
 consider themselves to be "very informed" about the theory of creation.
 Younger people, people with more education, and people with higher incomes
 are more likely to say they are very informed about both theories.