The debate between evolution and religion is usually treated as an either/or issue: either you accept evolution and science or you believe in God and religion. Some believers reject this dichotomy and insist that it's possible to both accept evolution and believe in God. A majority of Americans believe that you can accept evolution while believing in God; only 29% don't. Almost all of those who think this also happen to accept evolution.
In 2005, CBS News asked people their views on the origins of humanity. When asked if it's possible to believe in God and human evolution at the same time, people responded:
There are big differences in people's answer to this question, depending on whether the person already accepts evolution or not.
Among those who answered that they do accept evolution, they answered this question:
It's no surprise that few people who reject evolution entirely think that it's possible to accept evolution while also believing in God. Theoretically it shouldn’t matter, but on a practical level most anti-evolution literature relies heavily on arguing that acceptance of the Bible and traditional Christianity are incompatible with evolution.
Far more surprising is the breakdown of answers among those who say they believe that God created humans in their present form (which probably entails Young Earth Creationism, a position which requires denying not just evolution and modern biology, but most modern science as well):
Remember, these aren't theists who believe that God guided the process of evolution; no, these are people who reject any notion of evolution entirely (at least where humans are concerned). Most of them are almost certainly Young Earth Creationists, yet almost half are willing to allow that a person can accept evolution while still believing in God. Why?
This CBS News poll was conducted by phone with 808 people between October 3 and October 5, 2005. It has a margin of error of +/- 4%.
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