Contact: Loralei Coyle, Communications Manager, 202-419-4556, lcoyle@pewforum.org; Robbie Mills, Communications Associate, 202-419-4564, rmills@pewforum.org; both with The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life released a new research package that explores the religious debate over evolution, marking the anniversary of both the birth of Charles Darwin and the publication of his groundbreaking book, On the Origin of Species.

Two hundred years after Darwin was born and nearly 150 years after Darwin first published his work, Americans are still fighting over evolution. If anything, the controversy has recently grown in both size and intensity. In the last five years alone, debates over the extent to which evolution is taught in U.S. public schools have been heard by school boards, town councils and legislatures in more than half the states.

The new package features a collection of research reports and other resources, including:

• Overview: The Conflict Between Religion and Evolution

• Darwin and His Theory of Evolution

• The Social and Legal Dimensions of the Evolution Debate in the U.S.

• Religious Groups' Views on Evolution

• Fighting Over Darwin, State by State

• Evolution: A Timeline

• Graphic: Religious Differences on the Question of Evolution

If you would like to arrange an interview with Pew Forum Senior Research Fellow David Masci, or if you have questions, please contact Robbie Mills at 202-419-4564 or rmills@pewforum.org; or Loralei Coyle at 202-419-4556 or lcoyle@pewforum.org.  

The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life delivers timely, impartial information on issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs. The Pew Forum is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy organization and does not take positions on policy debates. Based in Washington, D.C., the Pew Forum is a project of the Pew Research Center, which is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.