Journal: That peculiar American Institution: Creationism

In the NY Times, Nicolas Cristof berates northeastern elites for ignoring the fact that Americans outside the region cling to religion. Evangelicals, in particular, are ignored. Hence, when Bush refers to his religious beliefs-- it is something to be noted.

Kristof points out that "A new Gallup poll shows that 48 percent of Americans believe in creationism, and only 28 percent in evolution (most of the rest aren't sure or lean toward creationism)." I'm not so sure that this is a particularly admirable quality--most in Europe would call this evidence of scientific illiteracy rather than sincerity of religious belief-- but in the Good Old USA, it's a test of world views.

How would I answer the poll? I don't believe IN Evolution. I don't believe IN Creationism.

Evolution is not something one believes in. I do not cling to faith in Charles Darwin. However, evolution is a more scientific answer to the origin problem. One can theoretically confirm it through observation. In Bioinformatics, certain extrapolations from the theory of natural selection can be applied to protein and genetic homology problems.

But believe it it? Not a chance. If a more useful theory comes along, I'll give it a whirl. What I believe in, is Science. Objective truth is obtained through systematic observation.

Apparently, I am in the minority.

I view this as a problem, not as some testament to the pious nature of Americans. One does not have to be an atheist to believe that creationism is, as an explanation, less fit than, say, natural selection.

Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that Evolution is too often presented as alternative to creationism, and not as a framework for researching Biology. Evolution, as "taught" to millions of Americans, has no value other than to attack religious beliefs. So why not believe in creationism? Saving one's soul from a jealous and vengeful god is more practical than a abstract, useless theory...