Every since Charles Darwin published his book titled, On The Origin of Species in 1859, the theory of evolution and religion have been in conflict with each other. Darwin was aware of this, but had substantial evidence that he had gathered for decades to back his claims. However, critics that backed the churches lashed out at the idea without even taking it into consideration.
To this day, religion is still raging a war against the accepted theory. According to several polls and publications including the Huffington Post, over 40% of Americans do not believe in evolution. This is significantly higher than other developed nations. Polls published by Natural Geographic indicate that about 10% of Europeans reject the theory of evolution. Why do four times as many Americans dismiss even the idea of evolution without giving a moment of thought?
People argue that evolution is "just a theory," but gravity (relativity) and the heliocentric model (planets revolve around the sun) are just theories too. Any scientific idea with substantial evidence is considered a theory.
People around the world have accepted this as fact except for a large portion of Americans. The theory of evolution does not extinguish the idea of a god nor does it damage any basis of faith. Anyone who is religious or spiritual can believe what they want, while accepting the theory of evolution. Evolution is simply the idea that species change over time through the process of natural selection. The theory does not attempt to explain where or how life began; it only addresses the idea that individuals with the "best" genes will live longer and produce more offspring, thus changing the population of a species over time.
The biggest problem with a large percentage of Americans rejecting the theory of evolution means that they will influence their kids to disregard the theory because of personal beliefs, without even having a chance to understand and analyze the evidence. Even worse is that fact that people in government that have influential power over many people make legislation based on their own beliefs. This is especially a problem in states that change their curriculum to intentionally rage the war against evolution.
Discrediting science is how we destroy our future and teaching children at a young age to not trust science for personal gain is disingenuous, disgusting, and horrific.
Evolution is not "just a theory" and it does not interfere with religious beliefs. It is accepted by the entirety of the scientific community and has extensive evidence including geological, biological, and chemical evidence ranging from observational, deductive reasoning, fossil records, and DNA sequencing. The war against evolution and science must end.
