ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the evidence from public opinion surveys, about what the American public believes about the theory of natural selection, and the conditions under which it is acceptable to teach that theory in the public schools. It considers some of the efforts, to teach young people the truth of evolutionary theory. It demonstrates that education does not necessarily translate into an endorsement of scientific biology. Political scientists and philosophers publish dozens of books and articles annually advocating the perfection of democratic institutions. But social theorists who believe in democracy and yet endorse the teaching of science, and only science, live with an ideological contradiction. The conclusion of the surveys must be to endorse Michael Riess's argument that creationism is not a simple misconception, but part of a "worldview", what philosophers would call an "ontology", that encompasses much more than the acceptance of empirical facts.
