Earlier this week, the British Council released the results of its international survey on people's attitudes toward evolution. (With help from a market research company, the organization talked with more than 10,000 people in 10 countries).
Here's what they found (click on images for larger view):



But there are some problems with the polling, as PZ Myers points out: According to the survey, people in the United States have the highest levels of awareness and understanding of evolution (84 percent), but, he says, "this survey did not measure actual competence." As Myers notes, "more than half disbelieve evolution, but more than 80 percent think they're knowledgeable about it. There's a problem."
Want to voice your opinion? Take part in the online survey. —Heather Wax

Earlier this year, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey on aging in America and found some interesting results. Perhaps the most remarkable finding is that 79 percent of people believe there is "a major difference in the point of view of younger people and older people today"—a number that is even higher than it was in 1969, when 74 percent of people felt the same way. In 1979, 60 percent of people perceived this kind of difference.
The most common explanation for today's generation gap? Nearly half of those surveyed (47 percent) pointed to something having to do with values and morality. Much fewer mentioned things like political views, experience and wisdom, or the use of technology. (Click on image for larger view.)


A particularly wide generation gap has developed in terms of religiosity, as younger adults have grown more likely to have no religious affiliation. Today, 25 percent of those under 30 describe themselves as atheist, agnostic, or nonreligious, while only 7 percent of those 65 and older describe themselves the same way. The survey also found that religion plays a significantly larger role in the lives of older adults, with those 65 and older more likely to pray, attend religious services, and believe in God than those under 65.

Older adults are also more likely than younger adults to say their religion has grown more important to them over the course of their lives, especially when they're dealing with a serious illness or often feel sad or depressed.


And according to the survey, adults 65 and older who attend religious services or do other activities at a place of worship have stronger social networks than those who don't, which means they're more likely to have people to turn to for companionship and support. Active churchgoers are also more likely to help other older adults in need.

—Heather Wax

Is the use of torture against suspected terrorists in order to gain important information ever justified? That's the question a recent survey by the Pew Research Center asked people from different religious traditions.
More than 60 percent of white evangelical Protestants say the use of torture against suspected terrorists can be often or sometimes justified, while 46 percent of white mainline Protestants and 40 percent of those who are religiously unaffiliated say the same.
Obvious differences. But as the analysts note in their write-up, the reason for the discrepancy is less clear:

In the case of an issue such as evolution, one can point to clear doctrinal reasons for some religious groups to reject the idea of evolution by natural selection. But there may be no such theological differences when it comes to torture or other political issues, such as environmentalism or views of government's role in the economy. Instead, differences among religious groups may reflect other social and political differences among the members of those groups.

Some interesting polling out of Canada: When Canadians who have no Muslim friends were asked whether they have a "generally favorable opinion" of Islam, only 18 percent said yes. But when the same question was posed to those who do have Muslim friends, 44 percent said they have a positive view of the Islamic faith.
The same pattern was seen with all other religions. For example, just 23 percent of those without Sikh friends view Sikhism favorably, compared with 63 percent of those who have Sikh friends. Among those with no Jewish friends, only 34 percent have a favorable opinion of Judaism, but 76 percent of those with Jewish friends have a positive view of the religion.
The full findings appear in the current issue of Maclean's magazine. —Heather Wax

About half of Americans today have switched their religious affiliation at least once, according to new survey findings from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. In fact, many Americans change religions more than once.
The survey was a follow-up to a major study of the U.S. religious landscape released last year, which found that 44 percent of Americans have switched or left religion. The new report raises that number to between 47 percent and 59 percent. The survey also found that the majority of those who switch faiths leave their childhood denomination by age 24, but by 36, most people have committed to one faith. But why, the researchers wondered, do people change denominations or give up religion altogether?
It turns out people switch faiths for all sort of reasons. According to the new findings, more than half of the Catholics and Protestants who switched faiths said they did so because their spiritual needs were not being met or they found another faith they liked more. Catholics are more likely to leave the religion because they stop believing in its teachings, while many Protestants switch religions because their life circumstances change (they move to a new community or marry someone with a different background).
Many of those who left a religion and are now "unaffiliated" said they left their faith in part because they see religious people as hypocritical or judgmental, because religious organizations focus too much on rules, or because religious leaders focus too much on power and money.
What's particularly interesting is that much fewer say they left religion because they think modern science proves religion is just superstition. —Heather Wax

Nearly half of all Americans—but only 34 of white evangelical Protestants—think human activity is responsible for global warming, according to a new findings from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. (Click on image for larger view.) Seventeen percent of white evangelical Protestants say natural patterns are the cause of global warming, while 31 percent do not believe the earth is warming at all.
According to the survey, black Protestants, white non-Hispanic Catholics, white mainline Protestants, and religiously unaffiliated Americans are all significantly more likely to believe the evidence for global warming—and all these groups are more likely than evangelical Christians to believe human activity is the cause of climate change. —Heather Wax

Reto Schneider is the author of The Mad Science Book, in which he describes 100 of the most unusual science experiments conducted over the past 700 years. Now, he's holding a public vote to find the weirdest experiment ever. Read summaries of the top 10 finalists and then vote for your favorite.
In one 1959 experiment, American psychologist Milton Rokeach brought three men who all thought they were Jesus to the State Psychiatric Clinic at Ypsilanti near Detroit, where they lived together for two years. Rokeach thought that if they met each other and lived together, they'd be cured (they weren't).
In another experiment, this one on Good Friday in 1962, researcher Walter Pahnke gave mind-altering drugs to 10 seminary students before a church service; many of the test subjects became priests and, even 25 years later, described the service as one of the most mystical spiritual experiences of their lives. And in 1984, pathologist Frederick Zugibe built a cross and hung volunteers from it in order to find out how Jesus died.
"Right now three men think they are Jesus: what happens when they meet is leading," Schneider tells us, "followed by diagnosing schizophrenics with spider webs and brilliantly saying nothing. In fourth place is forensic scientist Nicolas Minovici, who hung himself 12 times." —Heather Wax

Trinity College's 2008 American Religious Identification Survey was released last week, and among its major findings is that America is less religious today than it was 20 years ago. Christianity, specifically, is losing ground. According to the survey, 86 percent of Americans identified as Christians back in 1990. In 2008, the number was down to 76 percent.
But here's what's interesting: Within Christianity, the number of evangelicals is growing—while nationwide, the number of people with no religion is also on the rise (from 8 percent in 1990 to 15 percent last year). In other words, it looks like there's an expanding gulf between two extremes—likely contributing, in some part, to the kind of polarization in public discourse that sociologist James Hunter calls an "eclipse of the middle."
Here's a nifty, interactive graphic that really shows the widening gap (first click on "Catholics" and "Other Christians" and then click on "No Religion.) —Heather Wax

A majority of the public, 53 percent, believes scientific decisions should be based primarily on the risks and benefits involved rather than on the moral and ethical issues involved, while 32 percent thinks moral and ethical concerns should be the top priority, according to the 2008 Virginia Commonwealth University Life Sciences Survey. (Click on image for larger view.) At the same time, however, 56 percent of the public feels that "scientific research these days doesn’t pay enough attention to the moral values of society."
Religiosity, the survey found, "tends to correlate with views about scientific decision making. Those who are more religious tend to say that decisions should be based on the moral and ethical issues involved (44 percent); 39 percent of this group say the risk-benefit analysis should be primary. Those who are less religious clearly side in the opposite direction; 69 percent of those for whom religion is not important say decisions should be based on a risk and benefit analysis."
The survey also shows that about 80 percent of people believe genetic testing should be readily available to anyone who wants it, with only 28 saying their main concern about genetic research is that it will be used in ways that violate moral principles. According to 54 percent of the public, the benefits of conducting genetic research outweigh the risks.
Stem cell research that does not involve human embryos is acceptable to 70 percent of those surveyed, while 57 percent are in favor of embryonic stem research (36 percent oppose it). When it comes to therapeutic cloning, 52 percent think it's OK to use the technology to develop new medical treatments, while 45 percent do not. On the other hand, 78 percent oppose the use of cloning in humans when it is not restricted to therapeutic purposes.
Overall, 83 percent of Americans say that new developments in science have helped make society better, and 61 percent agree that scientific research is essential for improving the quality of human lives. —Heather Wax

The majority of young people—93 percent—believe there is a spiritual dimension to life, according to a recently released report from the Search Institute's Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence. They're most likely to understand this spiritual dimension as believing there is a purpose to life, believing in God, or being true to one's inner self. The report, "With Their Own Voices," is the result of a major international study that surveyed 7,000 youth ages 12 to 25 to get an in-depth look at how they think about and experience spirituality. (Click on image for larger view.)


About one-third of youth see themselves as "very" or "pretty" spiritual, the study found, though it varies widely from country to country (a high of 52 percent in the United States to a low of 23 percent in Australia), and many see spirituality as different from religion—though the majority view both positively. About 23 percent say they are spiritual but not religious, while 34 percent say they are both.


More than half—55 percent—said their spirituality had increased during the past two to three years, while 46 percent said so did their doubts and questions about spiritual and religious matters. Three-quarters of young people said being in nature, listening to music, and helping others in the community made it easier to find meaning, peace, and joy, while 44 percent said experiencing challenges in life made it hard to be spiritual. To nourish their spiritual development, young people say they commonly read books; pray or meditate alone; help others; or show love, compassion, and humility. —Heather Wax

More than half of Americans—55 percent—say they have been protected from harm by a guardian angel, a finding that stunned researchers at the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University in Texas. The high percentage of people who hold this belief, which seems to reach across religious, regional, and educational lines, is "a complete surprise because this is not a question, do you believe in guardian angels or do you believe in angels. This is a very specific question: Do you believe you have been protected from harm by a guardian angel? Do you believe you avoided an accident through the agency of a guardian angel?" says Christopher Bader, a sociologist at Baylor and an ISR researcher. "To find out that more than half of the American public believes this was shocking to me. I did not expect that."
The question was part of a broad survey of the nation's religious beliefs and practices that the institute conducted in 2007 with help from the Gallup Organization. According to the poll, which surveyed nearly 1,700 Americans, 45 percent of people say they've had at least two religious encounters—and while conservative Protestants are more likely to report religious or mystical encounters than are liberal Protestants, Catholics, or Jews, the researchers found such experiences occur with considerable frequency in nearly all religious groups.
As in the first wave of the survey in 2005, 11 percent of respondents said they had "no religion," yet two-thirds of the people in this group still expressed some belief in God and many were found to be merely "unchurched" rather than "irreligious." A majority of Americans who say they're irreligious still pray (with 32 percent praying often), and about a third of them say they believe in Satan, hell, and demons. About half believe in angels and ghosts.
These and other results from the survey have been released in a new book called What Americans Really Believe, written by Rodney Stark, a social sciences professor and co-director of the ISR. —Heather Wax

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released the second installment of its U.S. Religious Landscape Survey yesterday, and, like the first time, the findings have been picked up—and apart—by nearly every major news outlet in the country. The survey, which sampled 35,000 Americans, hoped to get beyond religious labels to discover how people's religious views and affiliation shape their social and political values.
America remains a nation of believers, which comes as no surprise, with 92 percent of respondents—including one-fifth of self-described atheists—saying they believe in God. But here are two shockers: The majority of Americans who are affiliated with a religious denomination don't think their religion is the only path to eternal life; this includes evangelicals (57 percent), mainline Protestants (83 percent), Roman Catholics (79 percent), Jews (82 percent) and Muslims (56 percent). And 68 percent of Americans say "there's more than one true way" to interpret the teachings of their religion. The question now seems to be whether these findings reflect a trend toward growing tolerance among religious people or whether they show that religious people dismiss or don't understand the doctrines of their faith.
When it comes to the findings that might shed light on the relationship between religion and science, more than half of mainline Christians (56 percent), Catholics (67 percent), Jews (65 percent), and Muslims (51 percent) say their religion should either "adjust to new circumstances" or "adopt modern beliefs and practices." And while 78 percent of Americans say there are "absolute standards of right and wrong," only 29 percent turn to their religion to define those standards. The majority—52 percent—rely primarily on practical experience and common sense, while 9 percent look to philosophy and reason, and 5 percent use scientific information. —Heather Wax

Earlier this week, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has released the details of its 2007 "U.S. Religious Landscape Survey," and the findings have since been picked up and interpreted by nearly every major news source in the country. The survey sampled more than 35,000 American adults in an attempt to detail the nation's religious composition. The results show the fluid nature of religious affiliation in America—many Americans switch religious denominations over the course of their lives. One of the most surprising findings is that Protestant denominations, once a large majority, now claim only 51 of Americans as adherents, while the Catholic Church has lost more members than any other faith group. More than 16 percent of Americans claim to be unaffiliated with any religion, making it the group with the largest net gain. This group includes both those who are secular and those who are religious but practice their faith independently, as well as atheists (1.6 percent) and agnostics (2.4 percent).
It's possible these changing numbers could impact the public debate and perception surrounding a number of science and religion issues. For instance, another Pew survey, conducted in August of 2006, found that evangelical Protestants (a group now on the decline) were most staunchly opposed to evolution, whereas those claiming to be secular (a group on the rise) were evolution's strongest proponents.
This spring, Pew will release a second report that goes beyond the religious labels to get at Americans' beliefs and religious practices. —Stephen Mapes