I actually think the results of the Gallup poll are quite positive.
More people were in the "believe" column (39%) than either the "do
not believe" (only 25%) or "no opinion" (36%) columns. That's not
bad for the general population! Furthermore, the results show that
education works--more than half (52%) of college graduates "believe"
and this increases to almost 3/4 of the population (74%) of
postgraduates.
Each year I teach a course, From Ape to Madonna: The Evolution of
Humankind, in which besides doing the "scientific" side of evolution
and anthropology we also discuss the impacts that the "evolutionary
idea" has had on American society. One of the assignments that I
give to the students is for them to research and write a paper that
outlines what their own (if they have one) religious tradition says
about evolution and what they now believe on the subject of
evolution, especially human evolution, after nearing the end of the
course. Many of the students write in their papers how they had
never discussed the topic with their parents at home or in Sunday
school and were quite surprised to find that their religious
tradition was not in disagreement with evolution (contrary to what
many had first thought---especially Roman Catholics!). Of course,
I've had a few Fundamentalists (only 2) who could not reconcile their
religious beliefs with what they had learned in the class. One of
these students, however, still earned an A in the course for her exam
grades and her well-researched and written paper---I don't ask them
to "believe" what I teach, only that they "understand" it. From my
experience it seems if we can encourage students to search for
answers themselves so that they can reconcile their "religious" and
"scientific" sides we will be much more successful than if we simply
push down their throats that "evolution is a fact---so just accept it."
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Frank T. Kuserk, Ph.D.
Professor of Biological Sciences and
Director, Environmental Studies Program
Moravian College
1200 Main St.
Bethlehem, PA 18018-6650
610-861-1429
kus...@moravian.edu
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