Meanwhile, Over in the Garden State...

Apparently, half of those polled in New Jersey don't accept evolution. According to Shannon Mullen of MyCentralJersey:

Support for the idea that humans evolved from lower forms of life stands at 51 percent in New Jersey, according to a new Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press Poll. (The Courier News is a sister paper of the The Press.) Forty-two percent said they didn’t believe in evolution, while 7 percent said they don’t know.

This further argues that the pathetic state of science education in this country knows no bounds. It, along with general scientific knowledge, is probably this bad everywhere. This information came in the context of a poll on a larger set of questions and the results can be found here. The question asked was:

I’m going to read a list of items. Please tell me whether or not you personally believe in each one. Just a quick yes or no:
The theory of evolution – that humans evolved from lower life forms

The results were predictable in other ways: For those who had a high school education or less, 37% answered yes, some college 52% and at least a college education 69%, while Democrats polled ten points higher than Republicans (I thought this would be a larger margin). Oddly, men answered yes eight percentage points higher than women, 55& to 47%. The authors make no comment as to why this last point might be.

As a comparative note, they point out:

New Jerseyans with a Darwinian bent may despair at the 42% of their fellow Garden State residents who cannot countenance the idea that humans may have evolved from lower life forms. However, they may take solace from the fact that recent polls in other places put that number significantly higher. For instance, large majorities of Republican primary voters in Southern states do not believe in evolution – 60% in Alabama and 66% in Mississippi, according to a March 2012 PPP Poll. However, that number was a much lower 43% among Illinois Republicans. Here in New Jersey, 49% of Republicans do not believe in evolution, compared to 41% of independents and 39% of Democrats.

42% is still way too high.

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Creationism in New Jersey

New Jersey.com is asking the question Should N.J. Public Schools be allowed to teach creationism? I just voted no. So far, 69% of the respondents agree with me but that is only 217 people so far. The story has this to say:

Creationism: The doctrine that matter and all things were created, substantially as they now exist, by an omnipotent Creator, and not gradually evolved or developed.

That's the textbook definition, and the way Gov. Chris Christie was speaking at a town hall meeting last week, school districts would be free to teach it.

It seems Christie knew he was about to put his foot in his mouth, then did it anyway.

“I probably have little business getting myself involved in these kinds of questions,” Christie said, adding that local school boards “should be making those decisions about what curriculum is being taught in your schools.”

I think that I would quibble with the definition, since what they really mean is young-earth creationism. After all, I am a creationist as well; just an evolutionary creationist. The problem is that the YEC crowd is so vocal that, in the eyes of the media, that is creationism.

I doubt that Christie, who is tied up right now in facing off with the unions and trying to save the state’s economy, is thinking much about creationism. As such, he might be receptive to suggestions to allow such teaching. One never knows. He ain't sayin'.