Americans eh? They’re all a bunch of religious wackos. And don’t try and convince me otherwise, I read the Guardian, I’ve seen some films by Michael Moore. I’ve been to Indiana. They’re not like us sophisticated Europeans*. Right wing religious loons, the lot of ‘em, not like us Britons who er, don’t really believe in evolution.
According to a report conducted for the BBC programme Horizon, only 48% of Britons believe in Darwinian evolution and 44% said creationism should be taught in science lessons. What are they putting in the water?
Anyhoo had a Doonesbury cartoon which sums the idiocy of this and the ID debate up pretty well, but it’s no longer online. Of course, it’s not really a debate, it’s just two sides shouting at one another. Britain needs some tall, dashingly handsome science communicators (well paid ones at that). My c.v. is up to date.
*Obviously when I say “Europeans” I should point out that as a Brit I only count through some bizarre geographical anomaly.
German Word For Today: “iBook” - Intelligent Design
Song playing as this was published: Arctic Monkeys “The View From The Afternoon”
What if you believe in both creationism and Darwinian evolution?
And please do lump all American’s together. There are those of us who have never been to Indiana and are actually quite normal. LOL!
Wow, I’m flabbergasted! I really wouldn’t have expected that. I wouldn’t mind seeing a breakdown of the results in terms of age, etc. And seeing the actual questions asked might help, too. I’m sort of sceptical, especially because of the percentage in favour of Intelligent [ha ha!] Design. When did so many people in the UK so suddenly learn about that? I bet lots of people who said they believed in it didn’t even know what it was.
I just refuse to believe that statistic.
We all know that facts can be used to prove anything that’s even remotely true.
The relgious nutters (Christian right) are expanding. I know some in the UK. They look normal, but they aren’t .Lots of them have been attending summer rallies where American preachers come over and basically brain wash them. They think the rapture is coming soon and want do do everything to hasten the event.
It’s all very worrying. I’m off down the pub with Charles for a pint
The above was me Doh! - I obviously haven’t evolved enough to use my brain!
The question of course is, was this loony American behavior inherited from the UK or vice versa. If the latter, this could be just one of the latest annoyances from us upstarts along with simplier spelling, the loss of the milliard and of course mm/dd/yy!
Judgement day is coming, my friends.
REPENT!!!!!!!!
Not all Americans are religious FREAKS, but unfortunately a large percentage of them are. That’s part of why I fled that crazy country….and well, for love, too. Now I’m in Germany trying to understand this country. I guess every place has its pro’s and con’s. Our plan is to move to London after Germany before going back to the US for good….
I just want to know when, exactly, the US government decided that the first amendment was wrong and that Christianity is the only religion worth knowing. And in direct reference to your point: I wouldn’t worry about those buggers who don’t believe in it. Evolution will have the last laugh when it finally suceeds in eradicating tiny-brained creatures. It’s a slow process–the dinosaurs lived for millenia before they were replaced by smarter creatures. If Darwin is really right, it’s only a matter of time before we attend museums with our children, saying things like,”Look, honey, that’s a Conservative. They were big and scary and destructive, but they’re all gone now and all we have left are their skeletons.”
Maribeth: First off, welcome to the blog! Americans more than welcome, even people from Indiana (which I actually really enjoyed, by the way). I’m not quite sure what you mean by believing in creationism AND evolution. Do you mean creationism as in and on the nth day he rested? Or that creation took place as putting building blocks on earth and allowing evolution to happen. Or In creationism, pretty much a la genesis, but with a bit of microevolution thrown in to explain drug resistance, say?
David (TEFL Smiler): Yes, to see the questions would have been nice and an age breakdown, but it was the BBC!
ms. mac: “...facts can be used to prove anything that’s even remotely true.” Is that what you intended to say?
Karl: It was the Pilgrim fathers that got off at (or near, anyway) Plymouth rock. Now I know you’re not all descendents, but they weren’t called the secular fathers were they? This is just one of many reasons on July 4th all across the UK we have “Hurrah! They left!” parties.
You know I’m just joking - We are, as the saying goes, one people separated by about 3,000 miles of Atlantic Ocean.
Haddock: Tell me about it. I met the dughter of the local vicar at Christmas and she must have put on about three stone since last year! Badoom - chink!
Sparky: You work in PR and Advertising or something, it’s no good repenting, your soul is for the burny pit, my friend, as is mine…..
James: It’s a crazy country that I actually really enjoy. We all have our mad brigades, as it were, but I’d consider making the reverse move to the one you did.
The In-law: Come on now In-Law, remember Evolution Is Blind 101. There’s no “direction”. Maybe the small-brained will be more successful in the future - they certainly seem to be breeding faster in the UK at least.
I can imagine a fair proportion of British people being fairly conservative when you scratch the surface; it’s just that they wouldn’t, y’know, go to church or anything like that (sadly, the keen blade of science doesn’t seem to do much for them either). Having said that I agree that without any statistical analysis this story may well have more to do with the BBC’s increasingly ham-fisted news coverage…
Seen through the lens of our media America does appear to be on the verge of turning into a Protestant theocracy, but then again they do have great pride in their secular and democratic traditions as well, so I’m hoping they’ll avoid it in the end. If they don’t, well, we’d all better start praying, frankly.
Idiots abound everywhere and they seem to be very prolific in their reproduction capacity. I can only assume they are humping like bunnies and will soon overtake the rest of us. There is no differenece in right wing nut jobs in the US and other places, The US is just a very visible target: we do all of our laundry out in the open and then go on talk shows to repent. Also, I have never actually met somebody that went to Indiana on purpose. I’m sure it is a very nice place and I have met nice people from there, it is just a strange choice for the first visit to this country.
There must be something about Indiana…
When in college, I knew a wonderful individual from Indiana who came to the big city and found another world, so different and expanded from what she had always known. In her four years of study, she learned to speak fluent, sweet french, explored science and literature, and developed a social conscience that would make anyone with even a few brain cells proud. Now, ten years later and after returning to Indiana, I discover, among other things, that she pulled her children from the local schools because they taught the ‘evil evolution’ and now allows her fundamentalist husband to teach them ‘god’s way’. Her re-indoctrination into the dogma of religious zelotry deeply saddens me.
Incidentally, evolution is the theory for the origin of species, not the origin of life per se, and this subtlety often opens the door for those who wish to justify Creationism through the story presented in biblical texts. Since the scientific community has continued to build on the basic premise of Darwin’s evolution, it is safe to state that many of his principles were accurate and confirmed through further scientific findings. However, the public in both America and Europe (based on the information presented here) perceives the scientific community as completely settled on Darwinism without much additional thought. To the contrary, we scientists question and probe the details of theory of evolution to solidify the facts and dispose of the clutter. As to point, just recall when Einstein threw a giant wrench into the whole issue of gravity that most thought settled with Newton.
I hear you arrive a scant half-hour after our friend from San Diego! This should be exciting. Shall we wait for you at the airport and head back into London together? I’m weighing that up with the thought of looking like a midget in front of the two of you 6-foot-plus bastards.
820: Thankfully the Religious Hatred Bill failed to pass in the UK and much like Darwinism a distant relation of mine appears to be responsible for the “cock up”. Great.
JCinD: Welcome! Again, Indiana was for family reasons (the strictly methodist branch of the family), however it’s the only place in the US I’ve actually spent a reasonable amount of time rather than gone for a conference. The people were friendly, open, were distrustful of the federal government, went to church on a Sunday, but that was about it - it was also 16 years ago though.
And as for “evolution is the theory for the origin of species, not the origin of life per se.” Ah! I see where people are coming from now - leon above mentions the America “seen through the lens of our media.” The recent ID court trial has been pretty much shown here with people from an equivalent of Oral Roberts University saying “Ah, but the fossil record was placed there by God to test our faith - the Earth is 6,000 years old.” As opposed to the problem of how does one get from having a lifeless (but chemical-rich) primordial ocean to the first single-celled organism. It appears the stereotyping media lens which I was having a mild go at in the post itself had partially blinded me too?
I was more astounded by the results of the survey than wanted to get into a discussion about simple self-replicating and duplicating molecules with minor catalytic properties (RNA world, well, RNA itself is way too far advanced to start).
Sin: I certainly hope so, I’ve been waiting for news from London which has now come back positive, I forgot to take into account that it’s sodding Valentine’s Day weekend though, I must confirm a booking now, before flights cost more than to San Diego itself.
Yes, it was.
I am one of those horrible people who think it’s funny to quote Homer Simpson on a regular basis. Except now it’s fallan flat on its face and not funny any more. And yet I’m still giggling.
ms. mac: Sorry! The Simpsons are one of the few programmes that I actually deem fit to watch in German - I’ve forgotten what “real” Homer is like…..
At least Tony Blair never said “the jury is still out on evolution.” Or did Bush convince him of that as well?
IAF,
It is a scientific fact that WOMEN are to blame for our current predicament! Had Eve not fucked up and ate the forbidden fruit, we would all still be running around naked in paradise…er…on second thought…good job Eve.
I dunno in-law, since only the seriously stupid could believe the world was made in 8 days 6000 years ago as an established fact, they must also not really have a firm grasp on other things like contraception, whereas it is proven that the more education one has, the fewer one reproduces. So while the crazies are popping out brats like water sprinklers, all those phds who can prove evolution happened are failing to breed at replacement rate and thus the world will be overrun with loonies unless we all have multiple babies. This argument is the only reason I can sign up to on the having babies front.
That is seriously bad news. As a Brit living in America for the last 17 years I have always consoled myself with the thought that although Britain had the monarchy, crap weather and Michael Parkinson, at least it wasn’t full of religious nuts. At least it wasn’t when I left.
Now where am I going to bolt to if the Red State Taliban finally take over the USA and make us all believe in creationism, WMD and the divine right of Bushes?