level of support for evolution

The level of support for evolution among scientists, the public and other groups is a topic that frequently arises in the creation-evolution controversy and touches on educational, religious, philosophical, scientific and political issues. The subject is contentious in the United States and other countries where creationism and intelligent design are advocated as alternatives to evolution, or which portray the modern evolutionary synthesis, developed in the middle of the 20th century, confirming the genetic basis for natural selection, as an inadequate scientific paradigm.