One Fifth Of Icelanders Creationists

According to a new poll, as many as one in five Icelanders believe that God created the universe, reports RÚV.

The poll, commissioned by Siðmennt, the Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association, also revealed interesting correlations between belief in creationism versus Big Bang and age, proximity to the capital, education and political leanings.

Only 62 per cent believe that earth was created by the Big Bang, which is the prevailing, scientifically backed explanation for how the universe began.

Meanwhile, 12 per cent said they believe the universe began in some other way (which excludes divine intervention and the Big Bang) and 8 per cent said they had no opinion one way or the other.

Age is a large contributing factor in the results of the poll, around 25 per cent of those aged 55 and up believed in creationism where as zero per cent of those under the age of 25 years believed in creationism.

Where politics are concerned, roughly 78 per cent of those who support the Social Democratic Alliance and Left Greens and about 75 per cent of those who support the Pirate Party believe in the Big Bang, but only 40 per cent of those who support the ruling Progressive Party believe in the Big Bang and 37 per cent of the Progressives polled believe in creationism.

The results also showed that the closer a person polled lived to Reykjavík, the more likely they were to believe in the Big Bang. In fact 69 per cent of those living in or around Reykjavík believe in the Big Bang, a number which drops to 48 per cent in Iceland’s northern region.

Those with higher education were also more likely to believe in the Big Bang over creationism.