A well known fact. Also a well known fact: There are many fundamentalist Christians in the US. Another well known fact: There’s a strong trend for people’s religiosity to get in the way of accepting certain scientific facts.
The Pew report referenced is from last year. Best to read the original and apply your own editorializing.
Not surprising. 38 percent of Americans also think Corona beer has something to do with the virus…
… which one can catch from Swedish currency.
As to the Acceptance of evolution vs. religiosity in the U.S. – Why Evolution Is True “acceptance of evolution by state” chart, the “not sure” band in each state doesn’t seem to fit the quantification of the “not sure” band in the USA bar in the chart above it on that same webpage. (Am I reading it wrong?)
Anyway, I don’t find the religiosity vs. acceptance of evolution correlation all that surprising—but how much of it is related to correlation of both factors with educational system attainments?
Good point. These kinds of polls are always very sensitive to how the questions are phrased. The question posed in the states-poll was:
Q.10c Evolution is the best explanation for the origins of human life on earth
RESPONSE CATEGORIES:
- Completely agree
- Mostly agree
- Mostly disagree
- Completely disagree
- Don’t know/Refused (VOL.)
But the one asked in the countries poll was:
Beginning in 1985, national samples of U.S. adults have been asked whether the statement, “Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals,” is true or false, or whether the respondent is not sure or does not know.
This is why I think the Genealogical Adam and Eve hypothesis is so helpful. It provides a way to believe in both human evolution and hold to a traditional understanding of Adam and Eve
As a Christian who affirms evolutionary science (CAES: shout out to @swamidass for giving me this helpful acronym), I found the Patheos / Godzooks article to be very insulting, and thus very unhelpful.
This quote, for example fails to express how I see the world, at all. It is a mis-formulation of the actual problem.
Evangelicals simply refuse to yield these fantasies of a world created by an invisible being in six days.
Christians who have a strong relationship with God are not going to turn away from their faith in the face of insults, such as calling their faith a “fantasy.” There are many rational reasons to believe in God. Non-belief is not more rational than belief. Thus, non-scientists will more easily believe their pastors on these issues than scientists who insult them and have no compassion for or understanding of faith. Pitting the argument in such a way as either Science or Faith is highly destructive. This type of formulation keeps scientists from understanding faith and makes Christians skeptical of science. People dig their heals in and stay entrenched on either side of the line, without building further understanding.
Thanks for bringing this up, as it is a good example of why it is important to pay attention to survey methodology. It turns out all we can really conclude is that 38% of Americans don’t drink Corona beer. Here’s some additional discussion:
Now, I couldn’t care less who does or does not drink which beers, let alone why. I do think this is a relatively low stakes example for talking about how to approach survey results critically and how to engage with each other charitably.
I think @dga471 get’s some credit for this one. 
Thanks for that term, CAES, @dga471!