A recent study by Pew Research shows that 73 percent of American youth believes in evolution. There are very few factors that have caused a divide among people in the United States and one of them is the heated debate on creationism and the process of natural selection.
In 1859, the world became forever changed with the publication of the “Origin of the Species”, which resulted in a huge divide between those who believe in the creation by God of all things and those who think that all things are a manifestation of gradual evolution. According to the rest of the world, including Europeans, evolution was considered the prevailing view. Americans on the other hand fought against this notion, largely advocating the theory of creationism.
Several surveys in the recent past have concluded that four out of 10 Americans believe humans existed in their current forms since the beginning, with some religious groups clocking an even higher number in this regard. Of late though, there has been a strong shift in ideas, with more Americans noticing the flaws of creationism and starting to see the evolutionary light.
When Pew Research asked American youth about their views on evolution, as many as 73 percent said that they believe in the process of natural selection, as opposed to only 61 percent that said so in 2009, when a similar study was conducted by the same team.
Many of these changes started to take place in 2005, when America decided to remove the teaching of intelligent design from classrooms. This means that the shift has been most dramatic in the past decade. The numbers are not limited to schools only, with the general population becoming more and more acceptable of a more secular idea that is being discussed by a growing number of people in terms of evolution.
Some people have in fact questioned if these figures are accurate or if they happen to be a mere blip on the radar. Taking overall data into consideration, it is evident that the figures hold true, perhaps due to a cultural shift that mankind is experiencing at the moment. As America has become less religious over time, with 56 million people not affiliating with Christianity today, this shift in views seems to be gathering momentum with the younger generation that is likely to take it forward into the future.
In all likelihood, the numbers will continue to diminish with the birth of more young people. Over 35 percent of all American youth, aged between 18 and 24 years, today call themselves non-religious and say that they do not believe in God.
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