Creationists in a Secular World. 4 May 96 ONE in five Germans does not believe that humans are descended from apes. Among Catholics and those over 45 years old the proportion is even higher, with more than a quarter rejecting the theory of evolution proposed by Charles Darwin nearly 140 years ago. The Allensbach institute for Opinion Research interviewed 1112 Germans in March. The proportion of unbelievers rose to 27 per cent among Catholics, and dropped to 15 per cent among Protestants.
Age also seems to affect what people believe.
Some 29 per cent of Germans over 45 years old refuse to accept Darwin's theory, compared with 13 to 14 per cent of the under-45s. Biologists can draw some comfort from the fact that scepticism about the origin of Homo sapiens is declining.