Science Skeptics

In the summer of 1925, John T. Scopes appeared before the Tennessee Court, challenging the ban on teaching evolution in public schools, and bringing the issue to the national stage. Today, nearly 90 years later, evolution is now a standard part of the science curriculum. But the issues raised in the Scopes “monkey trial” are far from extinct: critics continue to challenge evolution’s hold in the classroom.

Most of the challengers argue that evolution is a scientific theory, not a fact. To insure students are receiving a well-rounded education, they say, we should teach creationism, or intelligent design, alongside evolution. A number of heated debates in school districts across the country have resulted.

While these debates are largely confined to small towns in Alabama, Kansas, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Texas, to name a few hot spots, we shouldn’t write them off as the handiwork of a few small-town religious conservatives, according to a recent study by sociologist Gordon Gauchat.

In a recent article in the American Sociological Review, “Politicization of Science in the Public Sphere,” Gauchat finds that certain groups are becoming less trusting of science. In particular, he found that self-identified conservatives have become increasingly distrustful since the 1970s.

But the reasons for this shift remain unclear. The growing overlap between political and religious conservatives may explain part of the trend: both groups have lost faith in science over the last few decades. We’ve also seen the rise of a “conservative cultural identity,” according to Gauchat, that sees itself at odds with science. Conservatives are skeptical not only of evolution, but also things like the big bang theory or global warming. But Gauchat is careful to note that distrust in science isn’t the product of educational deficits; across the board, conservatives and liberals have comparable levels of education.

In other words, since this debate isn’t simply about evolution, we shouldn’t expect it to disappear any time soon.

As if to make this point, near New Brunswick, New Jersey, hardly a bastion of religious conservatism, a new billboard just appeared on the turnpike. “In the beginning, God created…” it proclaims, picturing a silhouette of a monkey transforming into a man, with a large “X” struck through it.