Are creationists dwindling in number?

[pitabread]

Not in my experience.

If we're talking averages though, education (or lack thereof) does seem to play a significant factor in adoption of creationist beliefs. Just the difference between those who haven't graduated high school versus those with College educations is stark.

I'd be curious how much of that could be attributed to correlation versus how much is causation.

 

[mark kennedy]

There is an error margin with respect to the poll numbers so point-to-point isn't necessarily as useful to see a trend. I did a 3-point moving average (non-weighted) of that Gallup data between 1993 and 2017 and that more clearly shows a downward trend in creationist beliefs.

Coupled with some of the other data (like the Pew Research data) and creationist beliefs seem to be the on the decline.

That’s true but; the % Man develop, with God guiding and % God created man in present form, is still at 72%. It looks like the decline is a Creationist view is from gains for the theistic evolutionist view. It's pretty clear the majority of people are not willing to make naturalistic assumptions that are mutually exclusive with God getting involved.

 

[mark kennedy]

If we're talking averages though, education (or lack thereof) does seem to play a significant factor in adoption of creationist beliefs. Just the difference between those who haven't graduated high school versus those with College educations is stark.

I'd be curious how much of that could be attributed to correlation versus how much is causation.

I think it has more to do with the nature of Christian conviction, creationism is consistent with averages for Christians in the US who would identify themselves as 'evangelical' or 'born again'.

2005 Nov 17-20 40%;
2005 Sep 8-11 47%;
2005 Apr 18-21 42%
The average agreement in four surveys conducted since December 2004 has been 43%.
(Would you describe yourself as a "born again" or evangelical? Gallup)
​

I'd say it reflects religious conviction.

 

[AV1611VET]

Well religion itself is on the decline, at least numberically. With the full court press at every level of education it's remarkable that over 1/3 of Americans still maintain evangelical conviction.

My pastor says even independent Baptists are dropping the word "Baptist" from their name.

 

[mark kennedy]

My pastor says even independent Baptists are dropping the word "Baptist" from their name.

Sounds about right, these things ebb and flow. I remember J. Vernon Mcgee mentioned that prior to WW2 church attendance was way down, most churches didn't have a Wednesday service and many didn't meet Sunday evening. The trend is disappointing but hardly disturbing.

 

[pitabread]

I'd say it reflects religious conviction.

So are you suggesting that religious conviction and educational attainment are inversely correlated?

 

[Aman777]

Traditional American creationist beliefs have always been in the 40-50% range.
Evolution Is Finally Winning Out Over Creationism, Especially Among the Young

Not so, because increased knowledge in the last days is currently being poured out to ALL flesh. Last year Scientists learned that the last common ancestor of life came from WATER. www.smithsonianmag.com/.../behold-luca-last-universal-common-ancestor-life-earth-...

God told us the SAME thing more than 3,000 years ago in this verse:

Gen 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly,

As we come closer to the end, God's Truth will continue to be discovered in Genesis and it will come through Scientific discoveries in the last days. Young people's minds will be shown God's Truth in spite of the force teaching of the False Theory of Evolution they have endured since they first entered School. God Bless you

 

[Aman777]

Sounds about right, these things ebb and flow. I remember J. Vernon Mcgee mentioned that prior to WW2 church attendance was way down, most churches didn't have a Wednesday service and many didn't meet Sunday evening. The trend is disappointing but hardly disturbing.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first

God Bless you

 

[bhsmte]

If we're talking averages though, education (or lack thereof) does seem to play a significant factor in adoption of creationist beliefs. Just the difference between those who haven't graduated high school versus those with College educations is stark.

I'd be curious how much of that could be attributed to correlation versus how much is causation.

The correlation is crystal clear. Now, IMO, when you see groups dwindling in numbers like this, those who are left, tend to get louder and dig in.

 

[dmmesdale]

Being known as creationist in a scientific field could harm one's career.

Viewpoint discrimination is nothing new in Science or Theology.

Beyond this though, Christians tend to be fewer in number, as educational levels progress.

The highly educated are a minority.

Or as one evangelical pastor noted, one call tell a church where a sermon on the devil might be heard by the number of pick-up trucks in the parking lot.

Don't see the corrolation and it comes off as a slam. A good church has a mix proportional to the population. If they are divided by education, race etc then that is not a healthy sign. His comment is divisive.

That is the problem with churches. New Christians may not come from traditional well educated backgrounds. They may be ex drug addicts or street walkers who certainly would not feel at home in most churches. The marginalized do not stay long. Most churches do not need them anyway since they have no money. See how that works?

 

[AV1611VET]

The correlation is crystal clear. Now, IMO, when you see groups dwindling in numbers like this, those who are left, tend to get louder and dig in.

Luke 18:8b Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

 

[pitabread]

Young people's minds will be shown God's Truth in spite of the force teaching of the False Theory of Evolution they have endured since they first entered School.

Uh huh.

Except what you don't appear to realize is that evolutionary biology is a useful science with real-world implications for its understanding and application. That is why it is taught.

The sooner creationists wrap their head around this concept, the sooner they'll realize why they can't counter legitimate science with religious beliefs. Historically, that hasn't worked out so well.

 

[JackRT]

I just did a little research into the situation in Canada --- creationist beliefs run at about 22%. This, to me, is not surprising since creationist beliefs are really only common in the USA and usually stronger in the South.

 

[Aman777]

Uh huh.

Except what you don't appear to realize is that evolutionary biology is a useful science with real-world implications for its understanding and application. That is why it is taught.

Amen, but I am speaking of the False THEORY of Evolution which goes beyond descent with modification and enters the Religious world of "belief". A good example is the "belief" that Humans evolved from the common ancestor of Apes. That is the most provable satanic lie ever told. Only those who believe in Evolism, believe such a lie even though it's forced on little children when they enter School.

*** The sooner creationists wrap their head around this concept, the sooner they'll realize why they can't counter legitimate science with religious beliefs. Historically, that hasn't worked out so well.

Amen, which is why I seek to find God's Truth which does agree with every scientific and historic fact and I find His Truth of How He made a perfect Heaven in 6 Days/Ages and then rested in the first 34 verses of Genesis. It's a secret outline of ALL of the rest of the Bible since ALL of the rest of the Bible refers BACK to One of the 7 Days of Creation. That's because the 7th Day is Eternity. God Bless you

 

[pitabread]

Amen, but I am speaking of the False THEORY of Evolution which goes beyond descent with modification and enters the Religious world of "belief". A good example is the "belief" that Humans evolved from the common ancestor of Apes. That is the most provable satanic lie ever told.

And yet, that is also part of the applied science of evolution. For the evolutionary relationships of primates (i.e. phylogenetics) has direct application in functional gene discovery in the human genome.

For example:

We used sequence comparisons of an extensive set of Old World and New World monkeys and hominoids to identify functional regions in the human genome. Analysis of these data enabled the discovery of primate-specific gene regulatory elements and the demarcation of the exons of multiple genes. Much of the information content of the comprehensive primate sequence comparisons could be captured with a small subset of phylogenetically close primates.

Phylogenetic Shadowing of Primate Sequences to Find Functional Regions of the Human Genome | Science

In fact, the world of comparative genomics is full of practical examples of phylogenetic datasets integrated directly into genomic analysis.

Here is another example:

Here, we report the sequencing and comparative analysis of 29 eutherian genomes. We confirm that at least 5.5% of the human genome has undergone purifying selection, and report constrained elements covering ~4.2% of the genome. We use evolutionary signatures and comparison with experimental datasets to suggest candidate functions for ~60% of constrained bases. These elements reveal a small number of new coding exons, candidate stop codon readthrough events, and over 10,000 regions of overlapping synonymous constraint within protein-coding exons. We find 220 candidate RNA structural families, and nearly a million elements overlapping potential promoter, enhancer and insulator regions. We report specific amino acid residues that have undergone positive selection, 280,000 non-coding elements exapted from mobile elements, and ~1,000 primate- and human-accelerated elements. Overlap with disease-associated variants suggests our findings will be relevant for studies of human biology and health.

A high-resolution map of human evolutionary constraint using 29 mammals

And so on, and so on...

What creationists need to realize is this is what you're up against. Not some fantasy about some atheistic conspiracy to corrupt the world's youth... but rather real-world science being done around the world in laboratories as we speak.

 

[AV1611VET]

I just did a little research into the situation in Canada --- creationist beliefs run at about 22%.

Jacques Cartier would be mortified, wouldn't he?

 

[pitabread]

I just did a little research into the situation in Canada --- creationist beliefs run at about 22%. This, to me, is not surprising since creationist beliefs are really only common in the USA and usually stronger in the South.

I'd be interested to know what the provincial breakdown is. Where I live, I pretty much never encounter creationism. In fact, the one time I can remember anything remotely related coming up was being proselytizing to by a Jehovah's Witness.

Disconnecting from this message board, I sometimes forget creationism is even a thing...

 

[JackRT]

I'd be interested to know what the provincial breakdown is.

IIRC it was lowest in Quebec and Highest in Ontario.

 

[dmmesdale]

Uh huh.

Except what you don't appear to realize is that evolutionary biology is a useful science with real-world implications for its understanding and application. That is why it is taught.

It has zero application. It is imposed on public education via court decisions which are slowly being undermined by state legislatures. The case is overstated by true believers. It is not even considered science by those in more exacting fields. All it amounts to is an atheistic interpretation of history. Its appeals to science is simply propoganda for legitimacy purposes.

The sooner creationists wrap their head around this concept, the sooner they'll realize why they can't counter legitimate science with religious beliefs.

Appeals to authority absent empirical evidence is not science in the first place.

Historically, that hasn't worked out so well.

I don't know. Appeals to the majority in science has not worked out so well.

Esp as it relates to Choleria. Outsiders knew the causes and cures years before they were implemented. Human feces in water was the cause and rehydration was the cure. Consensus assumed the cause was inhalation of fumes, not what they drank, even though the symptoms developed in the stomach and not the lungs. Feces was considered harmless and the odor was assumed to be deadly. This went on for hundreds of years while people died and the ones with the actual cures were marginalized.

The whole thing was an easy fix. Clean up the drinking water and if anyone comes down then hydrate them so they survive to dehydration process brought about by diarrhea. What stopped it all was consensus. People died needlessly.

 

[Aman777]

What creationists need to realize is this is what you're up against. Not some fantasy about some atheistic conspiracy to corrupt the world's youth... but rather real-world science being done around the world in laboratories as we speak.

You could have saved that long long post if you would take time to listen to what I am saying. I am saying that Humans were made on another world with an intelligence like God's. Gen 3:22 We came to this world of prehistoric people some 11k years ago in the mountains of Ararat. Humans can produce children with prehistoric people Gen 6:4 and Noah's grandsons had NO other Humans to marry, so they produced today's humans with the prehistoric people who were already here when the ark arrived. The history of Human civilization can be traced back to the arrival of Noah, the first Human (descendant of Adam) to step on planet Earth.

IOW, you must know about Adam's Earth BEFORE you can know the true beginnings of Humans. The ToE is provably incomplete because it is willingly ignorant that Adam's entire world was destroyed in the flood. God Bless you