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Only 34% of Tea Partiers Believe In Global Warming And Evolution
While many in the mainstream media have gone ballistic over Rick Perry’s stances on science and Social Security, and new poll reveals that only 34% of tea partiers believe in global warming and evolution.
When asked about climate change at the GOP debate Perry said,
Well, I do agree that there is — the science is — is not settled on this. The idea that we would put Americans’ economy at — at — at jeopardy based on scientific theory that’s not settled yet, to me, is just — is nonsense. I mean, it — I mean — and I tell somebody, I said, just because you have a group of scientists that have stood up and said here is the fact, Galileo got outvoted for a spell.
But the fact is, to put America’s economic future in jeopardy, asking us to cut back in areas that would have monstrous economic impact on this country is not good economics and I will suggest to you is not necessarily good science. Find out what the science truly is before you start putting the American economy in jeopardy.
After the debate the mainstream media proclaimed Mitt Romney the big winner of the debate because of Perry’s statements on Social Security and climate change, but a new Yale/George Mason poll shows that Rick Perry knows exactly what he is doing. According to the poll, only 34% of tea party members believe that global warming is happening. The same 34% also do not believe in evolution. Fifty three percent of tea partiers don’t believe that global warming is happening at all. Half of those who do believe that global warming is occurring think it is natural, not man made.
Tea Partiers were the group that had the strongest amount of belief that the summer heat wave is related to global warming (46%), but they were also the group that felt most strongly that record snowstorms helped them question global warming (26%). Sixty nine percent of tea partiers echoed Perry’s false debate line that there is a lot of disagreement among scientists about global warming, but tea partiers were the political group that considered themselves the most informed about global warming (30%).
Mitt Romney is trying to make hay out of Perry’s Social Security Ponzi scheme remark today, but most of the sources that most tea partiers turn to for information are agreeing with Rick Perry.
Here is Rush Limbaugh praising Perry’s Ponzi scheme remark:
Fox News has devoted multiple segments today to praising Perry’s Social Security comment:
The mainstream media and establishment Republicans understand the November implications of Perry’s remarks on science, global warming and Social Security, but what they don’t understand is that this isn’t November.
The difference between the two candidates is night and day. Mitt Romney is still trying to run a general election campaign, while Rick Perry is winning the hearts and minds of the tea party based primary electorate. Anyone who determined that Mitt Romney won last night’s debate wasn’t paying attention in 2010.
The tea party is all about ideological purity. When Rick Perry questions science, evolution, global warming, or Social Security he is proving his tea party bona fides. The tea party threw away Republican control of the US Senate by nominating candidates like Joe Miller, Sharon Angle, and Christine O’Donnell, and they will happily nominate Rick Perry even if it means losing to Obama in November.
As crazy as it sounds, Rick Perry probably helped himself with Republican voters by questioning the science behind climate change last night. The mainstream media doesn’t get it. The Republican Party really has gone that far to the right, and Rick Perry is likely going to keep singing the tea party’s siren song all the way to the nomination.
Image: Southern Fried Science
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35 Responses to Only 34% of Tea Partiers Believe In Global Warming And Evolution
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sendlawyersgunsandmoney
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
Must be that global cooling causing the drought in Texas. And Intelligent Design that keeps Texas schools ranked so low.
Nobody Special
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
The existence of the “Tea Party” completely blows the idea of “Intelligent Design” out of the water.
Shiva (Moderator)
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
so are you saying that the tea party is a case for dinosaurs walking with humans?
Reynardine
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
My sister, a very cultured and educated lady who has lived in the sheltered(!) environment of Chicago almost all her life, was aware of a baneful influence on textbooks, which she edited, but had never heard of Dominionism or Christian Reconstructionism. I gently directed her to Wikipedia. I’d need to be sure of her gastric fortitude before I told her to look at Wallbuilders. And the point of this is that educated, enlightened people, living in enclaves of civilization, have a hard time getting it, even when the evidence is before them.
SinghX
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 8:00 pm
A lot of people have a very difficult time understanding evidence; I mean, if you were told America has all kinds of little pockets of totalitarian territories where people are swayed to remain like POW’s under the rule of a tyrant who claims to be an prophet of some kind, would you want to “get it”? Especially if you live in a large cosmopolitan, enriched city environment.
People think it’s “quaint” that others want to live in what they perceive as country side communities where everybody is one big happy family and don’t want to look any further into the eyes of the battered women, disassociating children who appear as “well-behaved”…it’s very hard to conceive that there are 300 people who lived in Strong City, NM with a leader who didn’t really “molest” teenage girls but was spiritually “healing them while naked…300 people stood around swayed by this “good, old fashion, wholesome Amer’kan behavior”.
It’s just too far out of the box for most people to see that totalitarianism lead by a charismatic is dangerous and destructive.
The Platzner Post
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Not surprised!!! Are you???
boil
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
the last poll i saw from texas said over one third believe man walked with the dinosaur…
from your list: High School Graduation Rate – 43rd
% of Population 25 and Older with High School Diploma – 50th
Shiva (Moderator)
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
I find it extremely funny when people say snowstorms make you question global warming. If those idiots stop to think for a second in the United States for the most part the lower the temperature the less know you get and conversely the higher the temperature in winter the more snow you get. As someone who lived in Michigan all of my life except for now I can tell you that when we get a very good snow the temperatures are very moderate. When you have no snow or very little snow the temperatures are usually around freezing or below. most tea party people are not bright enough to remember that we will have winter no matter what. Global warming are not we will have winter
I would be willing to bet that most tea party thugs do not know anything about global warming, and do not know why they are supporting corporations. A good tea party person who is supposedly a patriot would look at a company who is spewing gas and smoke into the air and say why are you doing this. You’re not much of a patriot if you want to let coal factories spew the chemicals that come out of that facility into the air.
but on the bright side morning Joe had a lucid moment this morning. He said that Perry was preaching to a very small narrow band of people. bless his pointed little head
Dragonpuff
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
They also don’t believe in public education, think having ten kids means you haven’t done enough to put more white people like them on american soil and are afraid of that modern day evolution notion.
Kimbutgar
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
So the tea bag party are the flat earthers?
neil
Sep. 9th, 2011 at 6:10 am
I think they are going for the Earth being the center of the universe.After all the moon landings were faked.
mathazar
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
I wish they would stop using the word “believe” in that question, and instead use the words “accept” or “understand” evolution.
Facts are still facts, whether you choose to believe them or not.
A Walkaway
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
Exactly. (A neighbor, when she learned I’d taught about evolution, pitched a fifteen minute fit in which she accused me of teaching false religion in the classroom. She insisted that creationism needed to be taught.)
Tidux
Sep. 10th, 2011 at 12:53 am
I hope you protested her church for teaching false science.
SinghX
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
…”One of the problems with all of this is that not all narratives are equal. Imagine, to take a silly example, that someone told you story after story extolling the virtues of eating dog shit. You’ve been told these stories since you were a child. You believe them. You eat dog shit hot dogs, dog shit ice cream…Sooner or later, if you are exposed to some other foods, you might figure out that dog shit really doesn’t taste good. Or if you cling too tightly to these stories (or if your acculturation is so strong that dog shit actually does taste good to you), the diet might make you sick or kill you. To make this example a little less silly, substitute the word pesticides for dog shit. Or, for that matter, substitute Big Mac, Whopper, or Coca Cola.”
— Derrick Jensen (Endgame: Volume 1: The Problem of Civilization)
The only thing nice, white and polite I can say about teabaggers is, they will soon break down into fertilizer for the rest of us who will be here to rebuild the planet; have ever seen a ‘healthy bagger’ in any media pictures of their rallies?
Ingarose
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 5:55 pm
How did all this insanity get so much traction? Loony fringe groups have always been around and for the most part they were laughed about. But now the loony tunes are taken seriously by many in government and the media. Not only that, they feel empowered and very arrogant.
novenator
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 5:55 pm
Only 6% of all scientists are Republican. Only 9% conservative. people-press.org/2009/07/...
The conservative side of the political spectrum doesn’t care about science and vice versa. The two are usually incompatible (cognitive dissonance and reason are like oil and water).
Mikeyhatesit
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 6:30 pm
The 2005 court case of Kitzinger v Dover exposed not only a violation of religious freedom when a schoolboar attempted to eliminate evolution from the classroom, but an examination of intelligent design by several scientists. Justice Roberts determined that not only did the Creation Institute willfully attempted to install religion into a gov’t institution, but there is no evidentiary proof of Intelligent Design.
There are several excellent books about the case, ‘Monkey Girl’ and ‘The Devil in Dover’, but Barbra Forrest’s book ‘Trojan Horse’ is probably the best. I’ve yet to get my hands on a copy, but she and her cowriters examine the actual documents from the Creation Institute that discuss their intentions to return whatever is left of public education to pre-Copernican days. That means disregarding centuries of medicine and astronomy. They actually want to return the Earth back to its former position of the center of the universe.
This is why revisionism so horrifying to me, and what tipped me from fuming bystander into a vocal supporter of science and environmental welfare. I’d always been aware of Dominionism, since I was in college, and had to listen to PhD professors of Biology give equal time to human origins. It took the Dover case to make finally understand there is a concerted effort, with multiple prongs, to drag our country back to the days of Puritanism and not taking responsibility for anything. “Let go, let God” is just a way to avoid blame for anything humans to to the world and each other.
Cory
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 10:32 pm
Last time i checked, even scientists agreed that its the THEORY of evolution not the Fact of evolution, but i guess whoever rules the media rules the minds. I like how creationism and evolution are the only filter people seem to think through, we know so little about this earth and yet we all claim to know the answers….no one is satisfied with something just being currently unanswered, but i guess people are happy with whatever a guy in a labcoat or a black robe tell you. /sigh. Keep in mind it is not in the best interest of science or religion to change their stance on anything because they would all be out of jobs. Example: We are now starting to back peddle on our basic understanding of physics, like discovering that gravity is faster than the speed of light and furthermore that we can send communications over vast distances using gravity. Just one example. All im saying is people need to think for themselves, thats what has gotten us this far. We are human and strive to explain why we are what we are when the answers may not even be here on earth in the first place.
Shiva (Moderator)
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
You may think its a theory, but if it comes between evolution and intelligent design, evolution is a fact. There are very few anthropologists that would agree with you on that subject
We know a very great deal about this earth
Nico
Sep. 9th, 2011 at 2:22 am
Yeah.. that is the point. We think we are so intelligent…
We are the smartest, and even the former scientists dont know as much as we do. Everybody in the world probably think they are quite smart. It’s called self centred. We are gods… woo!
FAIL
Shiva (Moderator)
Sep. 9th, 2011 at 7:57 am
blah blah blah
Aaron
Sep. 9th, 2011 at 1:34 am
You are using the wrong definition of the word theory. In science, the word theory means something very specific – it is an explanation of actual observed data, and not a guess. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sci...)
There are two different topics that are commonly referred to under the term ‘evolution’: the theory of evolution, and the process of evolution (there are several competing theories for the process, natural selection, punctuated equilibrium, etc).
The actual theory of evolution is not really up to debate, and has been well established for more than 125 years. The process of evolution is a developing area, where there are many potential processes, some observable, some inferred, others postulations yet to be tested.
It drives me a bit batty to keep hearing the ‘only a theory’ line over and over again, when this is the same as the fact that we ‘only’ have a theory of gravity, yet all seem to accept that it exists.
mikelist
Sep. 9th, 2011 at 7:06 am
yet another of the myriad people who conflate ‘theory’ with ‘hypothesis’ (when you tell someone you “have a theory” you are misspeaking, you have a hypothesis, unless you have researched it to the point of ruling out alternate hypotheses. evolution is a fact, based on a lot of evidence supporting it, and a dearth of evidence to contradict it. where the term theory comes in is that scientists aren’t 100% in agreement about specific mechanisms, or in the chronological sequence of events leading to the development of modern humans (or other creatures or plants). they agree with more points than they disagree, even taking aquatic ape and other fringe hypotheses into account.
A Walkaway
Sep. 9th, 2011 at 11:19 am
To be an hypothesis, it must be testable. So their misunderstanding of the meaning of “theory” (That is something that really riles me at times – the misuse of the word to make someone sound “scientific”) doesn’t even reach the level of hypothesis.
The proper word is “idea”, or maybe “thought”, or you could even say “belief”.
If they can lay out a verifiable way of testing their idea, then hypothesis might be appropriate.
RenDP
Sep. 9th, 2011 at 7:58 am
Evolution is a THEORY in the same way that germs causing illness is a THEORY and Einstein’s principles of general relativity is a THEORY. Gravity is also a THEORY. Obviously the word theory doesn’t mean what you think it does.
A Walkaway
Sep. 9th, 2011 at 11:29 am
WRONG. All of the scientists I know say that evolution is a fact, and that the theory is a valid and heavily tested (without failing) explanation of how evolution works. I happen to know more than just a few scientists… after all, I am one myself (anthropologist/archaeologist). We don’t work in a vacuum… why do you think we have conferences, symposiums, and so on? It’s so that we can share findings and learn what each other has done. I’ve met literally thousands of scientists in the last several years… and as far as I know, every one accepts that evolution is fact.
Evolution has been OBSERVED… directly… at the micro, meso, and macro scales, clear up to lizards, insects, and birds. If you aren’t one of those stupid nutcases who rejects the archaeological/paleontological record, it can be shown that human beings have evolved significantly even in the last 10,000 years (that is, if you aren’t also one of those willfully ignorant and foolish “young earthers”).
For instance, the human face has decreased in size by about 20% over that time period. Some groups have evolved the ability to consume milk as adults. I could name a few other recent changes in human groups.
Evolution is FACT. The Theory of evolution is an explanation of how it works. That theory is being revised and refined all the time… the most recent revisions have to do with metagenetics and the interplay between genes and environment.
Shiva (Moderator)
Sep. 9th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
I used to work with a Baptist minister up in Michigan. His theory was that God put all them skeletons of dinosaurs and humans in the ground to fool us. I know God must have a sense a humor but going that far to create an entire races of dinosaurs just a fool us?
A Walkaway
Sep. 9th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
(Laugh)… good one. His theory indeed.
I’ve heard that many times… God the trickster. I find it absolutely offensive and a major example of cognitive dissonance.
Dr. Kenneth Miller goes into that false “God” in his book “Finding Darwin’s God”. (And for people who are interested, it’s a good read about the falseness of the “Intelligent Design” bunch including Behe.)
Aleina
Sep. 8th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
confirms my suspicions that 60+% of tea partiers (and therefore the majority) are retarded.
funnyandspicy.com/
Joe Bob
Sep. 9th, 2011 at 12:37 am
You are all a bunch of haters. Our knowledge is very limited compared to what we’ll know in 100 years.
Shiva (Moderator)
Sep. 9th, 2011 at 8:05 am
And our knowledge today is incredibly stronger than what we knew 100 years ago. But that doesnt make us haters. The teaparty is still in the age 100 years ago
A Walkaway
Sep. 9th, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Haters? I’ve never done violence to anyone (came close in pure self-defense a couple of times). The “Good Christians” threatened (elderly) family members, torched my electronics workshop, killed some of our kitties, and spraypainted racist hate graffiti in our driveway. They also, just because I left their church a few years ago, tried to break up our marriage and blocked me from getting decent employment (one of the people involved with that confessed to me privately and apologized several years ago, but did nothing to fix the damage they’d done.) The violence we suffered was just because I wrote letters to the editor, saying for instance that you can accept evolution is a fact, and believe in Jesus, and that Jesus didn’t blame the poor – he helped them.
There are other people who have gone through the same things we have, and for the same sort of reasons. All the violence was done by “Good Christians”. I’ve mentioned a few other cases on different threads in this blog.
I think that should show you that you might just be projecting, and don’t know what you’re talking about.
bee
Sep. 9th, 2011 at 9:19 am
I hope these people don’t try to do anything grown up like using scissors……….