Idiot America is infested with millions of know-nothing bible-thumping evolution-deniers. Australia doesn't have this disgusting disease.

Professor Michael Archer: "They thought nobody in their right mind would be a creationist in Australia."

The Sydney Morning Herald: 'Gullibility eroded': Why a generation chose science over God

By Jordan Baker

22 August 2018

Since 1986, Professor Michael Archer has asked his first-year biology students whether they thought a God had a hand in creating humanity. The answers reveal a profound change over a generation.

In 1986, 60 percent of students believed a God in some way influenced human origins. By last year, that had fallen to 28.8 percent. Creationists, who thought God created humans in their present form, fell from 10.4 percent to fewer than 5 percent.

"I am convinced we are seeing a steady erosion of the gullibility of the public," said Professor Archer, whose findings – the longest continual survey of its kind worldwide – are published on Wednesday in the journal Evolution; Education and Outreach.

"Once, you couldn't check these things. If someone in a position of power – a priest – told you this is how the world was, you didn't have the power to check that. Now [due to the internet] everyone does, and it's exposing the emperor's new clothes."

Professor Archer grew up in the United States, surrounded by people who believed in creation. When he arrived at the University of NSW and taught his first class in evolution, he wanted to see how his students felt so he could tailor his teaching.

"My colleagues thought it was a ridiculous question," he said. "They thought nobody in their right mind would be a creationist in Australia."

When he saw the results, he was relieved; only 10 percent believed in creationism. His Australian colleagues were shocked that the number was so high. However, almost two-thirds did believe God had some kind of influence on the process.

For three decades, Professor Archer has asked an average of 530 students a year to tick one of four boxes; that God created people as they are; that God guided the process of evolution; that God had no part in evolution; or they had no view.

He expected the numbers of students ticking the first two boxes to stay the same as the years went by, and perhaps even rise (creationists, as he knows from the US, are enthusiastic evangelists). So he was stunned by the rapid fall.

"Conversely, the idea that God had nothing to do with the evolution of humans, which started out at around 25 percent, streaked upwards until it became the dominant view in the class," Professor Archer said.

He believes his sample was representative of the general population; studies in the US show universities were not influencing young people's religious beliefs, Professor Archer said.

To him, the most probable explanation is the internet. "The web is filled with solid explanations about the whole world, including people," he said. "When you give people access to actual information, superstitions struggle to survive."

Creationism continues to thrive in Professor Archer's home country, where about 40 percent of people still believe God created man. Surveys like his are rare outside the US.

Census data also indicates Australians are becoming less religious. In 1966, 0.8 percent said they had no religion; by 2016, that number had risen to 30 percent.

A spokesman from UNSW Campus Bible Study, the biggest religious group on the campus, said "we are thankful that God created us in his image, so that our lives have value and worth".

EDUCATION
SCIENCE
EVOLUTION
RELIGION
BIOLOGY

Jordan Baker

Jordan Baker is Education Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald