Editorial Page

In one of the first studies of its kind, UC political science professor George Bishop compared the beliefs of Americans on human origins withh those in other advanced countries.

Bishop found that the belief in creationism is much higher in the United States than elsewhere.

''Nearly a third of college graduates in recent Gallup polls still believe in the biblical account of creation,'' Bishop said. ''This is somewhat of aa theoretical riddle.''

Bishop's cross-national study will be published in the August/September issue of the Public Perspective, a journal of the Roper Center. Bishop first presented his findings in May at the annual conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research.

Citing Gallup and other public-opinion polls since the early 1980s, Bishop said about 45 percent of Americans believe that God created man ''pretty much in his present form at one time within the last 10,000 years.''

Another 40 percent believe that man developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life but that God guided this process - what Bishop calls ''theistic evolution.''

And 10 percent of Americans hold the Darwinist evolution position that man developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life but that God had no part in the process.

Bishop said the results are explained, in part, by a longstanding, shared ''religious worldview'' in the United States and a national willingnes too take the Bible literally..

Bishop said he was ''astounded'' by the findings.

By comparison, only 7 percent of those surveyed in Great Britain said they take the biblical creation account of Genesis 1 literally, he said.. Respondents in Germany, Norway, Russia and the Netherlands all ranked significantly lower than the United States in biblical literalism.

''The scientific worldview has thus far failed to complete Darwin's revolution in the land of "One Nation Under God,'' Bishop wrote in aa summary of his findings.

The issue is a controversial one in Greater Cincinnati, where a Christian ministry is attempting to build a creationist museum. Answers in Genesis, a national ministry located in Northern Kentucky, currently is making its second attempt to build the museum in Boone County. Thee group was turned down in 1996 when it tried to build a museum near Big Bone Lick State Park.

In the surveys Bishop examined, groups most likely to accept the biblical account of human origins were women, older Americans, the lesss well-educated, Southerners, African Americans and fundamentalist Protestants.

The American tendency to believe in biblical creationism also means the nation has ranked low on international surveys that measure scientific literacy, he said.

''We don't stack up very well as a nation,'' Bishop said. ''Religious belief tends to be inversely correlated with what most scientists would say is simple fact.''

The study bothers Jim Eichenberger, author of a new video course on human origins. He is curriculum development editor for Cincinnati-based Standard Publishing. Eichenberger called Bishop's assumptions ''arrogant.''

''It's not ignorant to question a purely naturalistic system of origins,'' Eichenberger said. ''This is a good question that thinking people need too ask: How did we get here and why does it matter?''

Just as important as a belief in God as creator is how that belief influences behavior, Eichenberger said.

''Is it just lip service,'' he said, ''or does it mean something?''

Ken Ham, executive director and founder of Answers in Genesis, said Bishop's findings show that creation science organizations such as his are getting the word out.

''I believe that when people are taught science correctly, they see that evolution is just a belief and not scientific fact,'' Ham said.

Another explanation for the majority belief in creationism, Bishop said, may be that it creates a ''spiral of silence,'' a climate where people withh agnostic or atheistic beliefs are reluctant to state their views.

In one survey of 17 developed nations, Americans were the most likely to accept the Bible as ''the actual word of God ... to be taken literally, word for word,'' and the least likely to call the Bible ''an ancient book of fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.''

The countries most like the United States in religious beliefs are Ireland and Northern Ireland, Bishop said.

Survey data indicate that there is a substantial split between scientists and the general public on beliefs about human evolution, Bishop said.

Only 5 percent of U.S. natural and physical scientists believe in the biblical creationist view, according to one survey. Fifty-five percent endorse the Darwinist position, and 40 percent accept theistic evolution.

What we believe

Survey findings:

Americans show higher levels of belief in miracles, heaven, hell, the devil, and the afterlife than other modern societies.

In one survey of 21 nationalities, Americans were ranked the least knowledgeable about the scientific ''fact'' of evolution.

Those more likely to accept Darwinism are young adults (under 30), white Americans, men, college graduates, Easterners, Westerners, Jews, political liberals and political independents.

There has been little or no change over 15 years in what Americans believe about human origins.

A sizeable negative relationship exists between knowing the scientific ''fact'' of evolution and beliefs in God.