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Teaching of Creationism Is Endorsed in New SurveyBy LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: August 31, 2005

Correction Appended

In a finding that is likely to intensify the debate over what to
teach students about the origins of life, a poll released yesterday
found that nearly two-thirds of Americans say that creationism
should be taught alongside evolution in public schools.

The poll found that 42 percent of respondents held strict
creationist views, agreeing that "living things have existed in
their present form since the beginning of time."

In contrast, 48 percent said they believed that humans had evolved
over time. But of those, 18 percent said that evolution was "guided
by a supreme being," and 26 percent said that evolution occurred
through natural selection. In all, 64 percent said they were open to
the idea of teaching creationism in addition to evolution, while 38
percent favored replacing evolution with creationism.

The poll was conducted July 7-17 by the Pew Forum on Religion and
Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People and the
Press. The questions about evolution were asked of 2,000 people. The
margin of error was 2.5 percentage points.

John C. Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum, said he was
surprised to see that teaching both evolution and creationism was
favored not only by conservative Christians, but also by majorities
of secular respondents, liberal Democrats and those who accept the
theory of natural selection. Mr. Green called it a reflection of
"American pragmatism."

"It's like they're saying, 'Some people see it this way, some see it
that way, so just teach it all and let the kids figure it out.' It
seems like a nice compromise, but it infuriates both the
creationists and the scientists," said Mr. Green, who is also a
professor at the University of Akron in Ohio.

Eugenie C. Scott, the director of the National Center for Science
Education and a prominent defender of evolution, said the findings
were not surprising because "Americans react very positively to the
fairness or equal time kind of argument."

"In fact, it's the strongest thing that creationists have got going
for them because their science is dismal," Ms. Scott said. "But they
do have American culture on their side."

This year, the National Center for Science Education has tracked 70
new controversies over evolution in 26 states, some in school
districts, others in the state legislatures.

President Bush joined the debate on Aug. 2, telling reporters that
both evolution and the theory of intelligent design should be taught
in schools "so people can understand what the debate is about."

Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the Republican leader, took the
same position a few weeks later.

Intelligent design, a descendant of creationism, is the belief that
life is so intricate that only a supreme being could have designed
it.

The poll showed 41 percent of respondents wanted parents to have the
primary say over how evolution is taught, compared with 28 percent
who said teachers and scientists should decide and 21 percent who
said school boards should. Asked whether they believed creationism
should be taught instead of evolution, 38 percent were in favor, and
49 percent were opposed.

More of those who believe in creationism said they were "very
certain" of their views (63 percent), compared with those who
believe in evolution (32 percent).

The poll also asked about religion and politics, government
financing of religious charities, and gay men and lesbians in the
military. Most of these questions were asked of a smaller pool of
1,000 respondents, and the margin of error was 2.5 percentage
points, Pew researchers said.

The public's impression of the Democratic Party has changed in the
last year, the survey found. Only 29 percent of respondents said
they viewed Democrats as being "friendly toward religion," down from
40 percent in August of 2004. Meanwhile, 55 percent said the
Republican Party was friendly toward religion.

Luis E. Lugo, the director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public
Life, said: "I think this is a continuation of the Republican
Party's very successful use of the values issue in the 2004
election, and the Democrats not being able up until now to answer
that successfully. Some of the more visible leaders, such as Howard
Dean and others, have reinforced that image of a secular party. Of
course, if you look at the Democratic Party, there's a large
religious constituency there."

Survey respondents agreed in nearly equal numbers that nonreligious
liberals had "too much control" over the Democratic Party (44
percent), and that religious conservatives had too much control over
the Republican Party (45 percent).

On religion-based charities, two-thirds of respondents favored
allowing churches and houses of worship to apply for government
financing to provide social services. But support for such financing
declined from 75 percent in early 2001, when Mr. Bush rolled out his
religion-based initiative.

On gay men and lesbians in the military, 58 percent of those polled
said they should be allowed to serve openly, a modest increase from
1994, when 52 percent agreed. Strong opposition has fallen in that
time, to 15 percent from 26 percent in 1994.

Correction:

An article yesterday about a poll on Americans' views on the
teaching of creationism misstated the margin of error of findings
taken from a smaller sample of respondents who were asked about
religion and politics, government financing of religious charities
and gays in the military. It was 3.5 percentage points, not 2.5.