PRESS RELEASE 9/24/2003

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact -- Ide Trotter
Texans for Better Science Education
(972) 296-7167
info@strengthsandweaknesses.org

http://www.strengthsandweaknesses.org
  

New Texas Zogby Poll Shows 82% of Texans Think the State Board of Education Should Apply Both "Strengths and Weaknesses" to the Theory of Evolution in Textbooks! 

The issue of teaching weaknesses of evolutionary dogma to our children is a clear winner across the landscape of America. Polls routinely show that only a small minority of Americans actually believe, even after decades of exclusive evolutionary instruction, that a purely naturalistic materialistic evolution is capable of explaining life. 1 2 3

That textbook publishers ignore this (not to mention Texas law) underscores the de facto monopoly power a relative handful of individuals exert over the teaching of chemical and biologic evolution. To borrow from Churchill; "Never have so many been so intimidated by so few."

The most recent confirmation of this decades-old support for teaching both strengths and weaknesses was demonstrated in Texas by the Zogby organization. It found that a remarkable 75% agreed that "The state board of education should approve biology textbooks that teach Darwin's theory of evolution, but also the scientific evidence against it." In another question specifically addressing whether the board should enforce the existing requirement to teach both strengths and weaknesses in textbooks, 82% agreed. Yet another question tested specifically whether biology teachers should teach both sides, and 76% agreed! The last question was not specifically related to the question before the Texas SBOE, but asked if "intelligent design" should be taught alongside evolution, and a whopping 84% agreed either strongly (64%) or somewhat (20%). The most likely to agree included 18-29 year olds and Hispanics.4 The poll results were released September 8, 2003. (Full details here, or http://www.strengthsandweaknesses.org/ZOGBY.Texas.2003.pdf)

 

Summary Polls

 

Teach Strengths and Weaknesses of Evolution
(but no
specific mention of I.D.)

State Board of Education Should Enforce Teaching Strengths and Weaknesses

For Teaching Evolution and I.D. together

Against Evol. and I.D. being taught together

Teach Evol. Only (no weaknesses or I.D)

Zogby USA August 2001

71%

 

78%

13%

 

Zogby Ohio 2002

65%

 

78%

13%

 

Cleveland Plain Dealer 2002

74%

 

59%

8%

8%

Zogby Texas August 2003

75%/76%

(Q 2b/5b)

82%

64%ST
+20%SW
=84%

7%ST
+5%SW
=12%

18%

(SW=Somewhat Agree, ST=Strongly Agree, I.D.=Intelligent Design)

In short, thinking Americans, in spite of the censorship of scientific evidence against evolution from the classroom, in academia, and in public television, have and continue to reject evolution as inadequate. Zogby further found that younger Americans were even more likely to reject naturalistic evolution than those over 65 years of age.

Please take ten minutes, call your SBOE member and book publisher, and positively affect the next ten years of public school textbooks in Texas and the nation!

1 Zogby America Report, communicated from he Zogby polling group to the Discovery Instutute, as archived at URL http://www.discovery.org/articleFiles/PDFs/ZogbyFinalReport.pdf 

2 Zogby Ohio Poll, communicated from he Zogby polling group to the Discovery Instutute, May 8, 2002 , as archived at URL http://www.sciohio.org/OhioZogbyPoll.pdf 

3 Poll by the Cleveland Plain Dealer , reported June 2002, as archived at http://www.sciohio.org/CPDPoll.htm 

4 Views of Texas Residents on Teaching Evolution, communicated from the Zogby International polling group to Discovery Institute, Sept. 8, 2003, archived at: http://www.strengthsandweaknesses.org/ZOGBY.Texas.2003.pdf

 


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Texans for Better Science Education is a group of concerned Texas citizens who support the right of all students to learn about both the strengths and weaknesses of evolutionary theory in conformance with Texas law as well as the right of all teachers to the academic freedom to teach without censorship and intimidation from any pressure groups.

TBSE has a website at www.strengthsandweaknesses.org .