I hope you had a Happy Darwin Day! Last Sunday was Evolution Sunday, and so my Sunday school class focused on that topic, spending time clearing up misconceptions about what evolution says, and explaining why evolution is no more incompatible with religious faith than any other area of science. I highlighted that the claim that one must choose between atheism and young-earth creationism – a false antithesis if ever there was one – is a marketing strategy used by both sides, each of whose target audience will find the alternative repugnant.
Today I learned of the MIT Survey on Science, Religion, and Origins, which breaks down data in a more helpful way than other surveys I’ve seen – and does so pictorially!
P. Z. Myers rightly points out that atheists are not responsible for the existence of creationism. I do wonder, however, whether the reverse might be true – whether the existence and prominence of forms of Christianity that willfully take a stand against what the evidence supports has contributed to the significant increase in the popularity of atheism.
See also Rebecca Trotter’s post on why creationism doesn’t honor God and David Bailey’s on the origin of life.
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