I’ve known for a long time now that being a Republican these days requires a special ability — the ability to believe bold-faces lies, the ability to rationalize the wrong and dismiss the truth; the ability to selectively embrace only the bits of dogma that those in power insist that you embrace and ignore the others.
And this just proves it.
Majority of Republicans Doubt Theory of Evolution
More Americans accept theory of creationism than evolution
by Frank Newport
GALLUP NEWS SERVICEPRINCETON, NJ — The majority of Republicans in the United States do not believe the theory of evolution is true and do not believe that humans evolved over millions of years from less advanced forms of life. This suggests that when three Republican presidential candidates at a May debate stated they did not believe in evolution, they were generally in sync with the bulk of the rank-and-file Republicans whose nomination they are seeking to obtain.
Independents and Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe in the theory of evolution. But even among non-Republicans there appears to be a significant minority who doubt that evolution adequately explains where humans came from.
The data from several recent Gallup studies suggest that Americans’ religious behavior is highly correlated with beliefs about evolution. Those who attend church frequently are much less likely to believe in evolution than are those who seldom or never attend. That Republicans tend to be frequent churchgoers helps explain their doubts about evolution.
The data indicate some seeming confusion on the part of Americans on this issue. About a quarter of Americans say they believe both in evolution’s explanation that humans evolved over millions of years and in the creationist explanation that humans were created as is about 10,000 years ago.
…Bottom Line
The data in this analysis were measured in the context of questions about the origin and development of human beings. It is apparent that many Americans simply do not like the idea that humans evolved from lower forms of life. This appears to be substantially based on a belief in the story of creation as outlined in the Bible — that God created humans in a process that, taking the Bible literally, occurred about 10,000 years ago.
Americans who say they do not believe in the theory of evolution are highly likely to justify this belief by reference to religion, Jesus Christ, or the Bible. Furthermore, there is a strong correlation between high levels of personal religiosity and doubts about evolution.
Being religious in America today is strongly related to partisanship, with more religious Americans in general much more likely to be Republicans than to be independents or Democrats. This relationship helps explain the finding that Republicans are significantly more likely than independents or Democrats to say they do not believe in evolution. When three Republican presidential candidates said in a May debate that they did not believe in evolution, the current analysis suggests that many Republicans across the country no doubt agreed.
A strong belief in an unseeable, unknowable supernatural being tends to go hand in hand with the ability to reconcile lies and wrongdoing into truth and righteousness. I’m not talking about the people who both believe in a god and also have rational minds; I’m talking about the people who don’t have minds. The reason that more Republicans are apt to be religious is that being a Republican today — at least, the rank and file — requires a huge effort of faith and the ability to ignore reason and truth.
…the ability to selectively embrace only the bits of dogma that those in power insist that you embrace…
Please explain the revolt over immigration.
Come to think of it, maybe that’s evidence that the rank and file Republicans should embrace the Establishment a little more rather than less.
Well…. I suppose it’s better than believing in universal health care.