Almost half of adults in the east of England believe the theory of evolution makes God obsolete, and more than 80% disagree with creationism and intelligent design, which propose that humans were created by God in the past 10,000 years, and that life owes its complexity to divine intervention.
by Ian Sample
Excerpted from The Guardian
The east of England may be the most godless region of the UK, according to a "belief map" published by a theology thinktank today. Almost half of adults there believe the theory of evolution makes God obsolete, and more than 80% disagree with creationism and intelligent design, which propose that humans were created by God in the past 10,000 years, and that life owes its complexity to divine intervention.
The map was drawn up by the thinktank Theos following a survey of 2,060 people across the country who were chosen to be representative of the adult population.
The survey, which was conducted to mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, found that nearly half of the British adult population could not name the country's greatest naturalist as the author of On the Origin of Species, the 1859 book that introduced evolution through natural selection to a sceptical Victorian society.
The poll also revealed some extraordinary views on more recent writings, with 5% of adults thinking Darwin wrote A Brief History of Time, a bestseller on the science of spacetime, which was written by the Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking and is widely regarded as the most popular science book never to be completed by its readers.
A further 3% of those surveyed thought Darwin wrote The God Delusion, by the arch-atheist and Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins, while 1% thought Darwin was the author of The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver. Read the full article here.
Atheist Times Commentary ...
If this survey is to be believed, four out of five residents of eastern England think that "evolution makes God obsolete." One of the questions one encounters most frequently today in discussions involving atheism is "Can religion and science coexist?"
In large part that question rests on the implications of evolution. Clearly, one of religion's main roles is supplying explanations for human circumstances, and perhaps the most perplexing of all facts requiring explanation is the bare fact of human life. Evolution is the only scientific alternative to religious accounts and it provides such a complete and well-substantiated explanation that religious or supernatural accounts are entirely unnecessary.
Although many liberal theists say they accept the validity of evolution, they also believe that God has a crucial role in explaining reality. Atheist Times wonders why. What do you think? Does evolution make god obsolete?