Hemant Mehta with a brief overview of a recent poll conducted in Canada on beliefs in evolution and creationism. 

Not that you need it, but here’s another reason Canada is so much better than we are: Only 21% of Canadians think we were poofed into existence by God sometime in the past 10,000 years. Compare that to the astonishing 38% of people in the United States who say the same thing.

Image via Shutterstock

The poll from Research Co. also found that two thirds of Canadians accepted the reality that we evolved over the course of millions of years.

Still, there are parts of the country where ignorance thrives: 
in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 41% of residents believe in creationism — a significantly higher number than in all other provinces. Quebec has the smallest proportion of respondents who identify with creationism (10%). Age appears to play a role in shaping the perceptions of Canadians on the origin of life,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “While half of those aged 18-to-34 (50%) definitely concur with evolution, the proportion drops among those aged 35-to-54 (45%) and those aged 55 and over (26%).

The future looks bright(er).

Incidentally, a different survey on the same topic last year found that only 15% of Canadians were Creationists. I don’t think the number’s gone up for any reason; it’s likely just a difference in methodologies.



Hemant Mehta blogs @ Friendly Atheist 

Follow Hemant Mehta on Twitter @hemantmehta


Poll - 66% of Canadians Accept Evolution While 21% Are Young Earth Creationists

Hemant Mehta with a brief overview of a recent poll conducted in Canada on beliefs in evolution and creationism. 

Not that you need it, but here’s another reason Canada is so much better than we are: Only 21% of Canadians think we were poofed into existence by God sometime in the past 10,000 years. Compare that to the astonishing 38% of people in the United States who say the same thing.

Image via Shutterstock

The poll from Research Co. also found that two thirds of Canadians accepted the reality that we evolved over the course of millions of years.

Still, there are parts of the country where ignorance thrives: 
in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 41% of residents believe in creationism — a significantly higher number than in all other provinces. Quebec has the smallest proportion of respondents who identify with creationism (10%). Age appears to play a role in shaping the perceptions of Canadians on the origin of life,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “While half of those aged 18-to-34 (50%) definitely concur with evolution, the proportion drops among those aged 35-to-54 (45%) and those aged 55 and over (26%).

The future looks bright(er).

Incidentally, a different survey on the same topic last year found that only 15% of Canadians were Creationists. I don’t think the number’s gone up for any reason; it’s likely just a difference in methodologies.



Hemant Mehta blogs @ Friendly Atheist 

Follow Hemant Mehta on Twitter @hemantmehta


16 comments:

  1. A mass of evidence for evolution - a mass of myth for Young Earth Creationism.

    The only dispute really is whether a divine source kick started evolution or it did not.

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  2. AM,

    Absolutely NOT! Everything that has been observed in the known Universe started off simply then became complex. Implying a 'divine source' as a first cause doesn't solve anything, in fact it just makes less sense.

    Such divinity would necessarily be extremely complex, omnipotent and would then beg the question "who created IT?".

    This reasoning would continue ad infinitum.

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  3. Steve - it does continue ad infinitum. But there are only two choices - the universe was either divinely created or it wasn't. We reject outright the divine but there are evolutionary biologists and scientists who see it differently. Hans Kung, Teillhard de Chardin to name but two.

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  4. Hans Kung the Swiss priest and theologian, plus Teillhard de Chardin the Jesuit who's work was so heavily influenced by his faith as to render it stained?

    I can't tell if you are actually serious Anthony?

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  5. Steve - if you don't believe theistic evolutionaries exist I intend doing for nothing for you. Something you will have to chase up for yourself. It is very well documented.

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  6. I sort of expected that figure of 66% to be higher....quite disappointed with that, I really thought it would be much higher..perhaps it's being sandwiched between USA and Sarah Palin in Anchorage that influences it..wait a minute, what does the 13% (66 + 21 = 87) believe then or do they not give a shit!

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  7. Niall,

    Maybe the 13% think like me and believe that some where between monkeys climbing down from trees and walking up right across the African Savanah they either popped a few magic mushrooms and when they got to Egypt they figured out how to build a pyramid....or when the monkeys had reached Kenya an advance life form paid this rock a visit, started tweaking monkey DNA until they found a sequence that worked and used humans to quarry for minerals to power their Tesla space ships...(the latter would explain why there are so many early forms of humanoid bones scattered across this rock...)

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  8. Frankie,
    Maybe...then again may be not!

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  9. AM,

    I meant no disrespect, I mean that they are tainted with a belief in a 'first cause' specifically one that is 'divine', that's all.

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  10. Frankie,

    "some where between monkeys climbing down from trees and walking up right across the African Savana"

    Humans are Great Apes not monkeys, though we share a common ancestor.

    "either popped a few magic mushrooms "

    Perhaps, but this is unknown due to uncertainty whether our ancestors brains were developed enough to experience psychedelic happenings through fungi ingestion.

    " and when they got to Egypt they figured out how to build a pyramid"

    Why not? It's probably the easiest shape to build really tall!

    "....or when the monkeys had reached Kenya an advance life form paid this rock a visit, started tweaking monkey DNA"

    That would instantly show up in DNA sequencing of past human fossils...and it doesn't.

    "until they found a sequence that worked and used humans to quarry for minerals to power their Tesla space ships"

    A civilisation that has mastered inter-stellar travel still needs monkeys to do the graft? Unlikely.

    "(the latter would explain why there are so many early forms of humanoid bones scattered across this rock...)"

    Er, no it really doesn't. Evolution is neither linear or location specific.

    Can I have what your smoking please? lol











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  11. Steve - of course they are and that is what they are in dispute over with non-theistic evolutionists. It is not a teach the controversy argument, merely an observation.

    It is not about respect - there is no obligation on any of us to respect other opinions.

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  12. Naill,

    Until someone comes along with a better idea than the monkey and the magic mushroom/visited by an advanced life form who tweaked the gene pool..I am sticking with that school of thought. I can't buy into a bearded hippy walking on water 2,000yrs ago. And as for every scientist out there, they all have as many theories about how we came to be as every religion anyone care to mention have gods. Keep the faith Niall, I am leaving nothing off the table and open to suggestions. I do believe there is a whole chapter or three of civilization that we haven't been told or we simply don't know....


    Is this cave painting a fried egg or a UFO?

    This might interest some heads. Albert Einstein's God's letter is expected to fetch up to $1.5m (£1.2m) when it goes under the hammer at Christie’s in New York on Tuesday.

    The one-and-a-half page letter, written in 1954 in German and addressed to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, contains reflections on God, the bible and Judaism.

    Einstein says: “The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.”

    The sentence has been hailed as evidence that Einstein, one of the 20th century’s most esteemed thinkers, was an atheist. However Einstein at times said he was not an atheist, and resented being claimed as one.

    In the letter, Einstein, a Jew, also articulates his disenchantment with Judaism. “For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people,” he wrote.

    “As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything ‘chosen’ about them.”

    The letter was written in response to a book by Gutkind, called Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt.

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  13. Stevie,

    Monkey's beyond reasonable doubt did eat mushrooms. And it isn't only monkey's...


    Perhaps, but this is unknown due to uncertainty whether our ancestors brains were developed enough to experience psychedelic happenings through fungi ingestion.

    Here is a Jaguar in the Amazon rain forset eating a vine and tripping on DMT. Maybe there is some truth about Rudolf flying in the sky.. Reindeers love eating mushrooms. The lemurs in Madagascar love getting mellow on centipede juice. This young grizzly eats mushroom almost as big as itself...Did early man have a good time looking at the stars tripping thinking similar thoughts to you, me and a boy named Sue. No doubt about it...

    Humans are Great Apes not monkeys, though we share a common ancestor.

    Can we split the difference and call it a beast?

    "some where between monkeys climbing down from trees and walking up right across the African Savana"

    And somewhere between North Kenya and Egypt they looked at the stars while tripping on mushrooms. And I am almost certain that an advanced life form paid this rock a visit and tweaked the DNA of different kinds of beasts until they settled on the design we call modern man.

    A civilisation that has mastered inter-stellar travel still needs monkeys to do the graft? Unlikely.

    Who grafts today? Who cleans the streets, builds the sky scrappers, mines the minerals..the working class (monkeys) or the rich and powerful, who have the connections and money to fly to the moon (not exactly inter stellar but higher than the 32, 000ft we can fly at).

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  14. Frankie,

    "Here is a Jaguar in the Amazon rain forset eating a vine and tripping on DMT. Maybe there is some truth about Rudolf flying in the sky.. Reindeers love eating mushrooms. The lemurs in Madagascar love getting mellow on centipede juice. This young grizzly eats mushroom almost as big as itself...Did early man have a good time looking at the stars tripping thinking similar thoughts to you, me and a boy named Sue. No doubt about it..."

    I get what you are saying but it's impossible to know whether our ancestors,specifically when Homo and Pan split (Chimpanzee/human last common ancestor)their brains were developed enough to experience it.

    Put it this way, the amount of psilocybin mushrooms all the cattle in the UK must consume would be enough to 'trip balls' for aeons...but they are not...as their brains aren't developed enough for it.

    "Can we split the difference and call it a beast?"

    If you like!

    "And somewhere between North Kenya and Egypt they looked at the stars while tripping on mushrooms. And I am almost certain that an advanced life form paid this rock a visit and tweaked the DNA of different kinds of beasts until they settled on the design we call modern man. "

    See above, and we would have spotted the 'tweaking' of the DNA. It would be glaringly obvious to geneticists. Opinion doesn't come in to it.

    "Who grafts today? Who cleans the streets, builds the sky scrappers, mines the minerals..the working class (monkeys) or the rich and powerful, who have the connections and money to fly to the moon (not exactly inter stellar but higher than the 32, 000ft we can fly at)."

    Any civilization that can travel interstellar distances would have little reason for earth bound minerals, and besides, there would be evidence left over from mining..

    Not that it matters. The human race is doomed unless it becomes a space faring species withing 200 years. Ho hum lol


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  15. Stevie,

    but they are not...as their brains aren't developed enough for it.

    I have shown you animals in the wild eating plants and insects to get stoned. And beyond all reasonable doubt if you gave a cow, mouse, monkey a handfull of magic mushrooms they will trip. Did early man trip on them, you better believe it. I don't care how developed early mans brain was or wasn't. DId he figure out Pi while tripping. I don't know but I do know there is a huge piece of history that doesn't add up no maatter what way you look at things.

    Any civilization that can travel interstellar distances would have little reason for earth bound minerals, and besides, there would be evidence left over from mining.

    I covered that point on a piece called Never a straight answer for TPQ a while back (last paragraph). Here is the same video evidence All you or anyone has to do is simply watch the first few mins and make your own mind up about was this rock mined for minerals a very long time ago. Watch it and make your call.

    and we would have spotted the 'tweaking' of the DNA. It would be glaringly obvious to geneticists. Opinion doesn't come in to it.

    Today across this rock there is a massive debate going on about genetics and designer babies and the ethics behind gene editing...

    The researcher, He Jiankui, offered no evidence or data to back up his assertions. If true, some fear the feat could open the door to “designer babies.”

    Why not? It's probably the easiest shape to build really tall!

    Have you any idea the mathss behind the pyramids of Giza? The best engineers using modern tools and with all the technology we have, would have problems coming close to replicating any of the monoliths that are spread out across this rock.

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  16. frankie,

    "I have shown you animals in the wild eating plants and insects to get stoned. And beyond all reasonable doubt if you gave a cow, mouse, monkey a handfull of magic mushrooms they will trip. Did early man trip on them, you better believe it. I don't care how developed early mans brain was or wasn't. DId he figure out Pi while tripping. I don't know but I do know there is a huge piece of history that doesn't add up no maatter what way you look at things."

    How can we possibly know if early homo 'tripped balls' on mushrooms? Do present day cows trip balls? If I eat chocolate I get a pleasant feeling. If I feed it to my dog it will die. Both are mammals but with very different physical make-ups. I'm not saying you are wrong, it's just we have no way of knowing.

    I answered all your ponderings on the comments section below your article frankie.

    "Today across this rock there is a massive debate going on about genetics and designer babies and the ethics behind gene editing...

    The researcher, He Jiankui, offered no evidence or data to back up his assertions. If true, some fear the feat could open the door to “designer babies"

    Yes, quite. No different to dog breeds being crossed. What I'm saying is if gene editing was done in the past we would have spotted it.

    "Have you any idea the mathss behind the pyramids of Giza? The best engineers using modern tools and with all the technology we have, would have problems coming close to replicating any of the monoliths that are spread out across this rock."

    Wrong. https://www.livescience.com/45285-how-egyptians-moved-pyramid-stones.html



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