Why Does America Lead the World in Belief of Creationism?

Question

Polls show that a higher percentage of Americans believe in Creationism and reject evolution than any other industrialized nation in the world today. Statistics on student performance in schools, particularly in science and mathematics, ranks far behind the industrialized nations of the world. Is there a connection?

Answer 1

absolutely theres a connection. 50 years ago there were vast numbers of private and public laboratories in operation. Now theres very few. Science in general seems to be discouraged, as if the very idea of pure scientific research without religious bias is wrong. Its disgusting to me frankly. My father is a Oceanography professor at a large university and I've discussed this very thing with him. He's been in Academia almost 40 years and says he has seen a very sharp drop in the number of students in scientific fields since he began, and even worse, a drop in the number of students pursuing advanced degrees. I think we are in a 'dumbing' period as i have dubbed it. Perhaps its a natural side effect of the rapid increase in the pace of technological advancement. Amazing things seemed possible overnight during the new Computer Age, and people said 'Wait, I cant deal with all this!' and passed that attitude on to their children. I think the trend will reverse in the next few decades (knock on wood)...i hope people realize that without pure research for Sciences sake in this country, we're heading down the slippery slope of technological irrelevance, in an increasingly technological world.

Answer 2

Good question, although thinking about this stuff really bums me out.

I do not think creationism is the causal factor here. I think the general isolation that comes with living in many places in the US (where people have not left their state, let alone the US) is a breeding ground for both ignorance and religious zealotry. Although the US is by no means the world leader in these things, it seems to be for the particular Christian flavor of them.

Frankly the assault by evangelicals on evolution smacks of the persecution of Galileo over his "theory" that the earth revolves around the sun. It was a theory in those days -- that is a hypothesis that was supported by all available information (just as evolution is today). I boggles my mind why some people feel that their religion is treatened by evolution or any other branch of science.

An interesting, though depressing, paradox is that although the internet and other advances have given us the ability to gain greater global exposure and understanding, some use it for their daily dose of dogma -- further cementing their isolation and prejudices.

SIGH -- perhaps I should stick to the math questions in the future.

Answer 3

In fact, there is a direct connection. In the first half of the 20th Century, the American people were much better educated than they are now, and in the 1950s and 60s we seriously believed we had wilful ignorance licked in this country. We thought superstitious religion would fade away and die in this country as it has done in most other parts of the world.

Then came Billy Graham, Ralph Reed, Ronald Reagan, and Jerry Fallwell. They share a common motivation: to keep the American people stupid and confused so that they can be persuaded to vote for the candidates the right wing wants elected, and promote brainless policy that increases profits for war billionaires and further enslaves the middle and lower classes.

And there went the nation of wisdom and intelligence that we had previously been growing into, right out the window.

The electorate may recently have begun to catch on, and we may overcome this sweep of religious darkness, but it will be difficult and dangerous, and it will take generations for us to get back to the level of cultural maturity we had reached by 1960.

Answer 4

To try to suggest the connection between a poor public school system that only promotes a evolutionary point of science. And Creationism is completely unfair. You would need to correlate the studies of all forms of education into a study and include private religious schools.

That generalization of poor science and mathematics in a school system that does not teach any religion is unfounded.

Answer 5

because they jumped from ID which was proven wrong to
another stupid spin-off which is creationism this is also the reason America is also stagnating. as far as R&D is conserned as well as china catching up

Answer 6

Even stranger, the creationist theorem is kind of centrally located in the US as well. Perhaps it takes time for knowledge to seep in. The coasts are closer to other countries, and nobody here much takes to that creationism nonsense. But it seems to take longer for the knowledge to seep into the core of America.

Answer 7

Because they lead the world in BS.

Answer 8

In America we have been freer than elsewhere to test theories and not be politically correct. We are not forced to believe either creationism or evolution and keep an open mind. The western Europeans are forced to be politically correct, the meaning of which will change with opinion and not fact.

Answer 9

I think the question should be, why do so many people outside of the US believe in evolution? You are correct about student performance lagging behind the rest of the world. Our public (government) schools are a disgrace. Oh, by the way, these schools have been promoting evolution since about the same time they took prayer out of the schools. Is there a connection?

Answer 10

Because science now realize that the theory of evolution has been shot full of holes; on the other hand, archeology keeps right on proving more and more of the Bible to be true and of course the Bible teaches us that man was created.