QandO's got an interesting table on evolution beliefs by party affiliation. Turns out 9% of Republicans believe in evolution without God, while 16% of Democrats and 14% of Independents feel similarly. 23% of Republicans are fans of intelligent design, as are 28% of Democrats and Independents. 66% of Republicans are creationists, while 51% of Democrats and Independents are.
Huh.
So Republicans are substantially more creationist than Democrats and Independents, but the difference is between a bare majority and a large majority. Not the most heartening of news. QandO says the President is reflecting mainstream opinion. True enough. But that's no excuse. Leaders should lead, not follow, and they should consider it important that the countries they run have some respect for science and evidence, as those two tend to fuel the global economy. Americans can believe what they want, but with Republicans doing their damndest to discredit everything from biological science to climatological evidence to regulatory reports, the war they're waging on empiricism is probably not going to have a good ending. I'm going to outsource further comments on this to John Rogers. I better get used to doing that. When a country doesn't believe in science and seems viscerally uncomfortable with intellectualism, outsourcing is a word citizens best get used to.
