Title: For Darwin Day, 6 facts about the evolution debate | Pew Research Center
Headings: For Darwin Day, 6 facts about the evolution debate
For Darwin Day, 6 facts about the evolution debate
Content: Those in the general public who reject evolution are divided on whether there is a scientific consensus on the topic: 46% say most biological scientists think humans have evolved due to processes such as natural selection, and 52% say most biological scientists think humans have always existed in their present form. 4 A series of court decisions have prohibited the teaching of creationism or intelligent design in public schools. In spite of efforts in many American states and localities to ban the teaching of evolution in public schools – or to teach alternatives to evolution – courts in recent decades have consistently rejected public school curricula that veer away from evolutionary theory. In Edwards v. Aguillard (1987), for instance, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Louisiana law requiring public school students to learn both evolution and creation science violated the Constitution’s prohibition on the establishment of religion. 5 While most Americans (59%) say science and religion are often in conflict, those who are more religiously observant are less likely than others to see this clash between faith and science, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center survey . Among those who attend church at least once a week, half (50%) view religion and science as in conflict, compared with nearly three-quarters (73%) of those who seldom or never attend worship services. At the same time, most people (68%) say that their own personal religious beliefs do not clash with accepted scientific doctrine. 6 Outside the U.S., there are many other countries where sizable shares of the population reject evolution. In Latin America , for example, roughly four-in-ten or more residents of several countries – including Ecuador, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic – say humans and other living things have always existed in their present form.