LOADED QUESTIONS

I was looking over the Pew Trust's recent poll on American views of religion, particularly the questions relating to evolution. Here's their box:



Now as it's worded, I would have a hard time choosing the pro-creation/non-evolution option. Has life continued on earth in its present form since the beginning of time? Could anyone really answer 'yes' to that?

First, of course, you have all the extinct species, including dinosaurs. Well, that's a pretty big change. Then you also have various micro-evolutionary changes. When we talk about humans, for example, one who holds to a Biblical understanding of creation would have to see the division of humans into distinct genetic races (I realize this can be a fluid thing, but people from Norway don't look like people from China who don't look like people from Nigeria) as a micro-evolutionary development that differs from life in Eden. Recognizing the reality of that as well as other micro-evolutionary changes (dogs into distinct breeds, etc.) does not mean an endorsement of Darwinian evolution, but neither does it mean that life has continued unchanged since the beginning of time. What this shows more than anything else is the prevailing caricature of those who don't endorse Darwinian evolution even from places like the Pew Trust.

Write better questions and get more accurate results.