Anika Smith

From the new Zogby poll this week: QUESTION: Charles Darwin wrote that when considering the evidence for his theory of evolution, “…a fair result can be obtained only by fully stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question.” Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with Darwin’s statement?Strongly agree 45%Somewhat agree 31%Total Agree 76%Somewhat disagree 6%Strongly disagree 12%Total Disagree 19%Not sure 5% Three-quarters (76%) say they agree with Darwin’s statement, while about a fifth (19%) say they disagree. At a time when Darwin’s words and ideas are being showcased, it is interesting that his own support for academic freedom and freedom of scientific inquiry is largely being ignored by the media Read More ›

From the new Zogby poll this week:

QUESTION: Would you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree that teachers and students should have the academic freedom to discuss both the strengths and weaknesses of evolution as a scientific theory?
Strongly agree 54%
Somewhat agree 26%
Total Agree 80%
Somewhat disagree 6%
Strongly disagree 11%
Total Disagree 16%
Not sure 4%

A large majority of respondents (80%) agree that teachers and students should have academic freedom to discuss both the strengths and weaknesses of evolution as a scientific theory, with more than half (54%) saying they strongly agree. Only 16% disagree.

Although the media consistently portray support for the freedom to discuss both sides of the evolution debate as coming primarily from conservative Christians, these poll results show something far different and will shatter some preconceptions about who supports letting students hear a balanced presentation on Darwinian evolution. It turns out that:

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%

A 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%.

This morning the Washington Post’s “On Faith” blog picked up the news about the national Darwin Day poll making waves for teaching evolution, even paying us a nice compliment or two while re-imagining history (for the record, DI’s ed policy has always been to teach the controversy). But the really interesting thing is that they wanted an “expert” opinion on the poll (besides the professionals at Zogby) and so they turned to — who else? — Richard Dawkins:

Surprisingly Strong Support Seen Among Democrats and Liberals

A new Zogby poll on the eve of Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday shows a dramatic rise in the number of Americans who agree that when biology teachers teach the scientific evidence for Darwin’s theory of evolution, they also should teach the scientific evidence against it. Surprisingly, the poll also shows overwhelming support among self-identified Democrats and liberals for academic freedom to discuss the “strengths and weaknesses” evolution.

Over 78% of likely voters agree with teaching both the evidence for and against Darwin’s theory, according to the new national poll.

“This represents a dramatic 9-point jump from 2006, when only 69% of respondents in a similar poll favored teaching both sides,” said Discovery Institute’s Dr. John West. “At the same time, the number of likely voters who support teaching only the evidence that favors evolution dropped 7 points from 21% in 2006 to 14.4% in 2009.

“We need to change Darwin Day to Academic Freedom Day because just when Darwinists are celebrating evolution’s triumph, this poll shows that they have been losing the public debate over whether students need to hear both sides,” added West. “There appears to be a public backlash against the strong-arm tactics being employed by many Darwinists to intimidate scientists, teachers, and students who want to raise criticisms of Darwin’s theory.”

This keeps getting better and better. First the University of Vermont announces that they’ve replaced Ben Stein with Howard Dean (yes, that Howard Dean) as their commencement speaker. Then UVM biology prof Nick Gotelli writes an opinion piece in the Burlington Free Press arguing that Stein is unqualified to be a commencement speaker because he has no peer-reviewed scientific scholarship. I kid you not: The real issue is not political correctness, but scholarship. I will leave it to my colleagues in the economics department to weigh in on Stein’s scholastic achievements as an economist. As far as the sciences go, I am unaware of a single publication by Stein that has appeared in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. In the sciences, Read More ›

If you want to hear it for yourself, the live stream for the hearings is available here.

When asked whether or not she would entertain whether evolution has any weaknesses, Eugenie Scott invited scientists with scientific evidence to show her. “Let them come and talk to people like professor De Lozanne [Ed: who testified earlier] — let them come and talk at the universities.” Note to Eugenie: You kick people out of universities. It seems to happen a lot in Texas especially, for some reason — remember the SMU Darwin v. Design conferences, or the controversy over Bob Marks at Baylor? In fact, one of the expert reviewers on your side — Ron Wetherington — led the charge against allowing ID scientists to speak at SMU.What people say is one thing — what they do is sometimes Read More ›

We’re down in Austin, covering the Texas Board of Education hearings today, and this morning’s public testimony is… well.. interesting. To say that there is interest in this issue is an understatement — the room is packed with people standing along the walls and sitting with their laptops on the floor, waiting for their turn to get a word in on this controversy. It’s interesting to hear the testimonies from both sides in the public. We just had a mother speaking in favor of keeping “strengths and weaknesses” in the science standards who shared how her children’s AP biology teacher would not allow any questioning of Darwin’s theory — the Board members called it “intimidation,” and that doesn’t seem far Read More ›

The NCSE would like to remind us that Darwin Day is approaching (it’s less than a month away — do you still need to buy Darwin presents?), and Glenn Branch wants you to take Darwin on your shoulder with you, wherever you go, whether “at the museum or in a pew, at a lecture hall or in a movie theater, out in the park or indoors on a badminton court — to learn about, discuss, and celebrate Darwin…” Here’s an even better idea: why not stand up for academic freedom and remember what Darwin said about fair results and balancing both sides of the question? And if you’re a student, see if you can win $500 while you’re at it.