A recent survey reveals that 64% of all Americans believe that human beings were created directly by God in a special act of creation rather than that they evolved from earlier creatures - whether the evolutionary process was directed by God or proceeded on its own.

World Wide Religious News reports:

The belief was pronounced along partisan divides: 73 percent of Republican respondents and 75 percent of conservatives believe God is the ultimate Creator. The figure stood at 58 percent among Democrats and 48 percent among liberals. ... According to the poll, 61 percent of Democrats think man and ape evolved from the same family tree, an idea shared by 30 percent of the Republicans.

The poll found that while college graduates, adults ages 18 to 54, Democrats, liberals and those living in the Northeast and West support "evolution in larger numbers ... among these groups, majorities believe in creationism." Among college graduates, for example, the poll found that almost half believe in creationism, while 31 percent supported evolutionary theory.

A majority -- 55 percent -- felt that creationism, evolutionary and intelligent design all had a place in public schools. Just less than a quarter said creationism alone should be taught, while 12 percent favored evolution only and 4 percent intelligent design only. ... Another 48 percent felt that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution was not proven by fossil evidence, while 47 percent said humans and apes do not share common ancestry.

The ignorance of the American public on such a fundamental matter of science is astounding as well as depressing. It would be no worse than if most Americans thought that angels were responsible for the movement of tides, demons responsible for lightning, and God's anger responsible for earthquakes. Evolution is no more debatable than plate tectonics and chemistry, but too many people in America are unaware of this — and their religious leaders keep them ignorant by spreading misinformation or outright lies about science.

Read More:

• Evolution vs. Creationism
• Science vs. Religion
• What is Science?