One of the more bizarre questions at Thursday’s Republican Presidential Debate was when Chris Matthews asked which of the candidates did not believe in evolution. Three candidates — Huckabee, Tancredo, and Brownback — raised their hands. While they may be dumb when it comes to science, they may not be as politically stupid as you might think:
A recent Newsweek survey presented people with three explanations for the origins of human life: that humans developed over millions of years, from lesser to more advanced forms of life, while God guided the process; that God played no hand in the process; and that God created humans in their present form.
The first option is a sort of hybrid creation-evolution endorsed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) during the debate; “I believe in evolution,” he said. “But I also believe, when I hike the Grand Canyon . . . that the hand of God is there also.”
The second option is evolution as explained by science, and the third summarizes the idea of creationism.
Nearly half the sample, 48 percent, said the creationism option was closest to their beliefs, and 30 percent chose the hybrid option. Just 13 percent of the sample chose evolution alone as the best approximation of their view of human development.
Those results have been mirrored in a series of Gallup polls that have asked nearly the same question at several points over the past 25 years.
In other words, they’re just telling the public, especially the conservative, religious, Republican part of it when they want to hear.
