The Buddhists interviewed also tended to say that there was no conflict between their religion and evolution and that they personally believed in the theory. However, levels of acceptance of evolution varied by region and country, with Muslims in South and Southeast Asian countries reporting lower levels of belief in evolution by this measure than Muslims in other regions. Evolution raised areas of disagreement for many Muslim interviewees, who often said it is incompatible with the Islamic tenet that humans were created by Allah. Some Muslim interviewees emphasized that they would be OK with these technologies only if certain criteria were met-specifically, if the technologies were used by married couples, and with the couples’ own genetic material. Multiple interviewees mentioned research that uses non-halal substances (such as marijuana, alcohol, or pigs), some pregnancy technologies that they considered unnatural (such as procedures that use genetic material not taken from a husband and wife), or cloning. Some Hindus and Buddhists noted that they were comfortable with pregnancy technologies themselves. Individuals from all three religions generally approved of pregnancy technology and in vitro fertilization. Individuals from all three religions spoke of their disapproval of cloning for humans, with Muslims saying that cloning could interfere with the power of God, who should be the only one to create.

“This is one of the conflicts between religion and Western theory. Based on Western theory, they said we came from monkeys. Buddhist temples came under the control of the state, and the training of priests and the management of temples and the hierarchy was effectively state supervised. Asked what scientific research might raise concerns or should not be pursued for religious reasons, Hindu interviewees generally came up blank. However, the Pew Research Center’s 2014 Religious Landscape Study found that 86% of Buddhists and 80% of Hindus in the U.S. When Hindus and Buddhists did express religious concerns pertaining to gene editing and cloning, it was because these scientific methods might interfere with karma or reincarnation. When asked, many of the Muslims who were interviewed identified specific areas of scientific research that bothered them on religious grounds. Interviewees were asked to talk about their awareness and views of three specific research areas in biotechnology: new technologies to help women get pregnant, gene editing for babies, and animal cloning. No area of scientific research was universally seen as off-limits, and most interviewees saw potential benefits from emerging developments in biotechnology such as gene editing and animal cloning.

But interviewees generally found animal cloning to be more acceptable. A Pew Research Center survey of Muslims worldwide conducted in 2011 and 2012 found that a 22-public median of 53% said they believed humans and other living things evolved over time. Representative surveys of Muslims in countries around the world also have found variation in the share of Muslims who see any conflict between science and religion, although this share is less than half in most countries surveyed. In three of the four countries in the 2018 Wellcome Global Monitor with large enough samples of Hindus for analysis, majorities said science had “never disagreed” with the teachings of their religion, including two-thirds of Hindus in India, which is home to the vast majority of the world’s Hindus. The predominant view among Hindus who were interviewed is that science and Hinduism are related and compatible. One 24-year-old Muslim man in Malaysia said both science and his religion explain the same things, just from different perspectives: “I think there is not any conflict between them. He also has a consort who is Lakshmi Goddess & Vishnu god is one who knows about love very well.

A glaring example is the god Hanuman, who gave rise to the Chinese god Hóuwáng (猴王 “Monkey King”), known as Sun Wukong in the Journey to the West. Allah had created perfect humans, not from monkey to human,” said a 21-year-old Muslim man in Malaysia. In Malaysia, for instance, 37% of Muslim adults said they believed humans and other living things evolved over time. Humans have been chasing immortality for millennia. “In Hinduism we have something like this as well, that tells us we originated from different species, which is why we also believe in reincarnation, and how certain deities take different forms. If you’ve ever wondered why the English language is so overwhelmingly difficult to master, even as a native English-speaker, you aren’t alone. Native to the eastern half of North America, evening primrose often produces a refreshing lemony scent, and its stem is covered in fine hairs. “I feel it is fine.