This is an intentionally misleading question.   The Holy Bible describes a genealogy of human beings that may not span more than 3,000 years, so anyone familiar with the Holy Bible (like perhaps the 264 million Americans who proclaim, when asked, that they're Christians) can't answer any of these question honestly.  It's true that 3,000 years is "within the last 10,000 years", but the wording causes misleading responses even though someone may 100% accept creation by God as described in the Holy Bible.

It's disingenuous to ask a Christian whether or not God "guided" a process "over millions of years" when most Christians don't even accept a timeframe for the creation of man longer ago than 6,000 years.  Such wording enables those who "believe in evolution" to proclaim that 49% of Americans "believe in evolution", which is an inaccurate assessment.  Even with this biased, anti-Christian phrasing of the questions, only 9% of Americans claimed that they believe that life was created by "evolution" rather than by God. 

How many Christians would answer such a question this way simply because it "comes closest" to their views, but still doesn't accurately represent their actual opinion?  From this single question, we just don't know, and no Gallup Poll ever answers that question definitively.   Their previous question gets us closer to the truth, but it still avoids that key question.

POLL ANALYSES
August 30, 1999

Americans Support Teaching Creationism as Well as Evolution in Public Schools

Divided on origins of human species
by David W. Moore

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ - Although some leaders in the scientific community have expressed stunned dismay at the willingness of both leading presidential contenders, Texas Governor George W. Bush and Vice-President Al Gore, to support the teaching of creationism in public schools, recent Gallup polls confirm that Americans are in favor of that policy by a substantial margin. At the same time, they are divided on how human beings came into existence.

According to a Gallup poll conducted June 25-27 of this year, Americans favor teaching creationism in the public schools, along with evolution, by a margin of 68% to 29%. However, by a margin of 55% to 40%, they would oppose replacing evolution with creationism.

Despite public support for teaching those subjects in public schools, most Americans do not believe them to be crucial to a person's education. According to the most recent Gallup poll, conducted August 24-26, only 28% of Americans say evolution should be a required subject and 49% say it should be an elective. Similarly, 25% say creationism should be required and 56% say it should be an elective. The number who would ban either course from the classroom is 21% for evolution and 16% for creationism. By contrast, 83% of Americans believe that computer training should be a required subject, while 76% would require courses on alcohol and drug abuse prevention, 69% on drivers education, and 60% on sex education -- among other subjects.

Americans' support for teaching both creationism and evolution could reflect their divergent views on how the human species came into existence. According to the most recent Gallup poll, 47% of Americans believe that God created human beings at one time within the last 10,000 years pretty much in their present form, while 49% believe that human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, including 40% who say that God guided the process, and 9% who say that God had no part in the process. This pattern of responses is essentially unchanged from the three previous times it was asked -- first in 1982, and then again in 1993 and 1997.

Views on evolution highly related to age and education
Older and less educated Americans are more likely to reject evolution than are the younger and more educated population groups. American adults under the age of 30, for example, accept either one of the two evolutionary explanations for the origins of human beings (either guided by God or not) by a margin of 56% to 42%, very similar to the pattern of responses in the 30-49 age group (53% to 44%). However, the 50-64 age group is about evenly divided on the issue, with 47% who accept evolution and 50% who say God created human beings about 10,000 years ago. And among Americans 65 and older, only 33% accept evolution, while 60% reject it.

Americans' level of education is also closely related to beliefs about evolution, with only 41% of non-college Americans accepting evolution and 55% rejecting it. Americans with "some" college, by contrast, favor evolution by a 50% to 45% margin, compared with a 58% to 41% margin of support among college graduates, and a 66% to 30% margin of support among those with some post-graduate education.

Survey Methods
The results reported in this article are based on two Gallup polls, both with telephone interviews of a randomly selected national sample of about 1,000 adults, 18 years and older. The most recent poll was conducted August 24-26, 1999, while the other Gallup poll was conducted June 25-27, 1999. For results based on sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Next I'm going to read a variety of proposals concerning religion and public schools. For each one, please tell me whether you would generally favor or oppose it. First, ... Next, ...

Teaching creationism ALONG WITH evolution in public schools

Teaching creationism INSTEAD OF evolution in public schools

Next, I'm going to read you some areas of instruction the high schools might offer. Please say whether you think each one should be required instruction, could be offered as an elective but should not be required, or should not be taught at all. How about…

The theory of evolution

The theory of creationism

Which of the following statements comes closest to your views on the origin and development of human beings --

  POLL RELEASES
  March 5, 2001

  Substantial Numbers of Americans Continue to Doubt Evolution as
  Explanation for Origin of Humans

  Some Americans appear uncertain as to meaning of terms, however

  by Deborah Jordan Brooks

  GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

  PRINCETON, NJ -- Although most scientists subscribe to the theory of
  evolution as the best explanation for the origin of human beings, a recent
  Gallup poll shows that the American public is much more divided in its own
  beliefs. Americans choose "creationism" over "evolution" when asked which
  of these two terms best describes human origins, but slightly larger
  numbers of Americans choose one of two evolutionist explanations than
  choose a strict creationist explanation when given a choice between three
  specific views. At the same time, only about a third of the public say
  that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is well supported by evidence.

  These different beliefs about the origins of the human race have long been
  important topics of public debate. The Kansas Board of Educations recent
  reversal of its previous decision to omit references to many evolutionary
  concepts in its public school standards has focused more attention on the
  topic in recent weeks. While much of the debate centers on issues
  surrounding the separation of church and state in public school
  classrooms, the discussions are often premised largely on individuals
  personal beliefs about Charles Darwins theory of evolution and the
  biblical theory of creationism.

  Americans More Likely to Identify Themselves as Creationists Than as
  Evolutionists

  Gallup has asked Americans several times over the last 20 years to choose
  between three statements that describe the origin and development of the
  human race. Generally speaking, the plurality of Americans have come down
  on the side of a creationist approach to human origins, while slightly
  fewer have agreed with a statement that reflects an evolutionary process
  guided by God, and only a small number have agreed with an evolutionary
  process in which God had no part.

  Most recently, in Gallups February 19-21 poll, 45% of respondents chose
  "God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time
  within the last 10,000 years or so," the statement that most closely
  describes biblical creationism. A slightly larger percentage, almost half,
  chose one of the two evolution-oriented statements: 37% selected "Human
  beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of
  life, but God guided this process" and 12% chose "Human beings have
  developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God
  had no part in this process."

  The public has not notably changed its opinion on this question since
  Gallup started asking it in 1982.

  Which of the following statements comes closest to your views on the
  origin and development of human beings -- [ROTATE 1-3/3-1: 1) Human beings
  have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life,
  but God guided this process, 2) Human beings have developed over millions
  of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this
  process, 3) God created human beings pretty much in their present form at
  one time within the last 10,000 years or so]?

  Humans developed, with God guiding
  Humans developed, but God had no part in process
  God created humans in present form
  OTHER (vol.)/No opinion

  2001 Feb 19-21 - 37%, 12%, 45%, 6%

  1999 Aug 24-26 - 40%, 9%, 47%, 4%
  1997 Nov 6-9 - 39%, 10%, 44%, 7%
  1993 Jun - 35%, 11%, 47%, 7%
  1982 - 38%, 9%, 44%, 9%

  After asking Americans which of the three statements on the origin of
  humans they agreed with, Gallup asked, by name, which of the two theories
  they believe in more. Given this choice, more than half of Americans say
  they believe in or lean toward the "theory of creationism" while far fewer
  believe in or lean toward the "theory of evolution" (57% for creationism
  vs. 33% for evolution) and one out of 10 say they are unsure.

  People who consider themselves to be political conservatives are much more
  likely than liberals to prefer the theory of creationism. Americans in the
  South and Midwest are more likely than people living in the East and West
  to believe in the creation theory. Perhaps most notably, those for whom
  religion is an important part of life (those who attend religious services
  every week) are far more likely to prefer the theory of creationism than
  are those who attend church less often (80% versus 47%, respectively).

  The first question reviewed above explains the precepts of the creationist
  and evolutionary approaches without mentioning the labels, while the
  second gives respondents only the labels without explanation. The results
  indicate some differences in interpretation based on which question is
  used. More Americans agree with the word "creationism" than agree with
  "evolution," but a slightly larger number choose an evolutionary
  explanation rather than a creationist explanation when given specifics.
  In order to better understand these issues, we examined the relationship
  between responses to these two questions, looking at how people who said
  they believed in or leaned toward one of the two theories answered the
  more specific question describing the three approaches to the origin and
  development of human beings.

  Generally, there is a good deal of consistency between responses to the
  two questions. The majority (two out of three) of the people who said they
  believed more in "creationism" selected the statement "God created human
  beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last
  10,000 years or so." But interestingly, more than one-quarter of
  "creationists" selected a statement that can be seen as compatible with
  the scientific findings of evolutionary scholars: "Human beings have
  developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God
  guided this process." Only 1% of "creationists" selected the evolutionary
  statement saying that "God had no part in the process." Thus, while almost
  no "creationists" believe that humans developed without Gods help, a not
  insignificant minority believes that human beings developed from lower
  forms of life, as evolutionary scientists suggest, but that God helped the
  process along.

  People who choose "evolution" as their preferred theory are most
  comfortable with the idea that God guided an evolutionary process of human
  development. A majority -- 51% -- selected the statement "Human beings
  have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life,
  but God guided this process," while 34% selected that statement with the
  condition that "God had no part in this process." Finally, just 10% chose
  the statement that God created human beings within just the last 10,000
  years.

  What do these findings tell us? First, only a very small minority of
  "evolutionists" choose a creationist explanation when confronted with the
  specifics of the theories. Thus, the vast majority of "evolutionists" are
  consistent and choose an evolutionary explanation, with or without Gods
  involvement.

  On the other hand, over one-quarter of Americans who say they believe in
  the creationist perspective choose an evolutionary statement -- albeit the
  one that has Gods involvement. Thus, it appears that a substantial
  proportion of "creationists" cannot be distinguished from the majority of
  "evolutionists" in the way they think about the origins and development of
  humankind. While 57% of Americans claim to lean toward the label of
  "creationist," in actuality, only 41% of Americans are "creationists" who
  do not support an evolutionary way of thinking about human development.
  The difference suggests that there is either a very broad interpretation
  of the term "creationism" -- one that does not support the biblical
  account of the creation of the human race -- or that there is
  misunderstanding about what the label "creationism" means, among at least
  some of the creation-leaning public.

  Public Doubtful About Whether Evidence Supports Darwins Theory

  Another question included in the recent poll asked directly about the
  evidence supporting Charles Darwins theory of evolution. Given a choice
  between three alternatives, only about one-third of Americans think that
  Charles Darwins theory is "well supported by evidence," while slightly
  more (39%) believe that it is not well supported, and that it is "just one
  of many theories" on this subject. A substantial percentage of Americans
  -- one in four -- felt they didnt know enough to say.

  Individuals with more education and people with higher incomes are more
  likely to think that evidence supports the theory of evolution. Younger
  people are also more likely than older people to think that evidence
  supports Darwins theory, perhaps reflecting the widespread teaching of
  evolution in the classroom in recent decades.

  Again, however, not all Americans are consistent in their beliefs.
  Seventeen percent of those who say evolution is the best theory to explain
  human origins feel that evidence does not support the theory well in
  response to this specific question about Darwins theory, while 16%
  indicate they dont know enough to say. Among people who prefer
  creationism, one out of five says the evidence supports Darwins theory,
  while 24% report they dont know enough to say.

  Only 34% of Americans consider themselves to be "very informed" about the
  theory of evolution, while a slightly greater percentage -- 40% --
  consider themselves to be "very informed" about the theory of creation.
  Younger people, people with more education, and people with higher incomes
  are more likely to say they are very informed about both theories.

END