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Dramatic Increase in Support for Teaching Scientific Evidence Both For and Against Darwinian Evolution

From the new Zogby poll this week:

QUESTION: I am going to read you two statements about Biology teachers teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. Please tell me which statement comes closest to your own point of view–Statement A or Statement B?
Statement A: Biology teachers should teach only Darwin’s theory of evolution and the scientific evidence that supports it.
Statement B: Biology teachers should teach Darwin’s theory of evolution, but also the scientific evidence against it.

Statement A 14%
Statement B 78%
Neither 5%
Other/Not sure 2%

graph.jpgA large majority (78%) say Statement B, “Biology teachers should teach Darwin’s theory of evolution, but also the scientific evidence against it,” comes closest to their point of view, while 14% say Statement A, “Biology teachers should teach only Darwin’s theory of evolution and the scientific evidence that supports it” comes closest to theirs.
The majority supporting teaching both sides of the evolution debate jumped by 9 points since 2006, when this question was last asked:

Results from Zogby nationwide poll in 2006
Statement A 21%
Statement B 69%
Neither/Other/Not sure 10%
Random sample of 1,004 likely voters. Conducted by Zogby International on Feb.27-Mar. 2, 2006. Margin of error +/-3.2%.


Over the past three years, supporters of Darwinian evolution have insisted that there is no scientific evidence critical of Darwin’s theory to present to students. They also have claimed that the Kitzmiller v. Dover intelligent design trial settled this issue and so there should be no more debate about how evolution is taught in public schools. But the public has not been convinced. Indeed, support for the Darwinists’ position has dropped significantly while support for teaching the controversy over evolution has risen.
Notably, according to the new poll, young adults are far less likely than any other age group to favor a one-sided approach to teaching evolution. When asked if they agreed with the statement that biology teachers should teach “only Darwin’s theory of evolution and the scientific evidence that supports it”–the position typically advocated by pro-Darwin activists and academic partisans–0% agreed among those in the 18-24 year-old age bracket!