Poll finds evangelicals stand apart on evolution, climate change
As Charles, KT, Gus, and many other lizards have pointed out for quite a while, the Tea Party is composed mostly of evangelical fundamentalists. They are opposed to science, and this poll shows that very clearly. Evolution and climate change are real deal breakers for both evangelicals and Tea Party members, because there’s a huge subset that’s composed of members of both.
White evangelicals and Tea Party members are less likely to believe in evolution and climate change than most Americans, a finding that could pose a particular problem for Republican presidential hopefuls.
A new poll released Thursday (Sept. 22) also showed that a majority of Americans (57 percent) believes in evolution, and an even larger majority (69 percent) believes in climate change — though many still disagree that the phenomenon is based on human activity.
But most Americans do not insist that their presidential candidates share their views on these issues, nor do they believe scientists have come to a consensus on them, according to the poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute in partnership with Religion News Service.
The views of white evangelicals and Tea Party members stand apart.
Even though these issues aren’t deal-breakers for most voters, they are “symbolically important for two groups that play an outsize role in Republican primary politics: white evangelical Protestants and members of the Tea Party,” said Robert P. Jones, CEO of PRRI.
“Because evangelicals and Tea Party members hold views that are significantly different than the general population, the challenge for Republican candidates is to talk about these issues now in a way that will not hurt them later in the general election,” Jones said.