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Gallup's Darwin's Birthday Evolution Poll

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Throbert McGee2/12/2009 8:10:46 pm PST

Note that the poll question does not actually define “evolution,” but rather assumes that its meaning is universally agreed upon. Of course, there is no such agreement — for example, some people who “believe in evolution” take it as a given that the evolutionary process is entirely naturalistic, while other “believers in evolution” (Michael Behe, for example) maintain that from time to time, God uses His supernatural powers to nudge and tweak the process.

And in the absence of a clear definition, the poll is basically asking how people react to the word “evolution.” Apparently 39% are comfortable with it, while 25% find that the word is not to their taste.