Editing David Attenborough (section)

=== Religious views ===
Attenborough considers himself an agnostic.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/listen/audioarchive.shtml Interview] with [[Simon Mayo]], [[BBC Radio Five Live]], 2 December 2005 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301170556/http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/listen/audioarchive.shtml |date=1 March 2009 }}</ref> When asked whether his observation of the natural world has given him faith in a creator, he generally responds with some version of this story, making reference to the ''[[Onchocerca volvulus]]'' parasitic worm:

{{blockquote|My response is that when Creationists talk about God creating every individual species as a separate act, they always instance [[hummingbird]]s, or [[orchids]], sunflowers and beautiful things. But I tend to think instead of a parasitic worm that is boring through the eye of a boy sitting on the bank of a river in West Africa, [a worm] that's going to make him blind. And [I ask them], 'Are you telling me that the God you believe in, who you also say is an all-merciful God, who cares for each one of us individually, are you saying that God created this worm that can live in no other way than in an innocent child's eyeball? Because that doesn't seem to me to coincide with a God who's full of mercy'.<ref>David Attenborough, 2003. "[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/24/1048354544138.html Wild, wild life] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031211230726/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/24/1048354544138.html |date=11 December 2003 }}." ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 25 March. Attenborough has also told this story in numerous other interviews.</ref>}}

He has explained that he feels the evidence all over the planet clearly shows [[evolution]] to be the best way to explain the diversity of life and that "as far as [he's] concerned, if there is a supreme being then he chose organic evolution as a way of bringing into existence the natural world". In a [[BBC Four]] interview with [[Mark Lawson]], he was asked if he at any time had any religious faith. He replied simply, "no".<ref>BBC ''Today'' programme, 31 January 2009</ref> He said "It never really occurred to me to believe in God".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/4347954/Sir-David-Attenborough-questioned-on-faith-naturally.html |location=London |work=The Daily Telegraph |last=Walker |first=Tim |title=Sir David Attenborough questioned on faith, naturally |date=26 January 2009 |access-date=6 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008095309/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/4347954/Sir-David-Attenborough-questioned-on-faith-naturally.html |archive-date=8 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2002, Attenborough joined an effort by leading [[Clergy|clerics]] and scientists to oppose the inclusion of [[creationism]] in the curriculum of UK state-funded independent schools which receive private sponsorship, such as the [[Emmanuel Schools Foundation]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/27/david-attenborough-science |title=Attenborough reveals creationist hate mail for not crediting God |last=Butt |first=Riazat |date=27 January 2009 |work=The Guardian |access-date=27 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905180331/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/27/david-attenborough-science |archive-date=5 September 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2009, he stated that the [[Book of Genesis]], by saying that the world was there for people to control, had taught generations that they can "dominate" the environment and that this has resulted in the devastation of vast areas of it. He further explained to the science journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', "That's why Darwinism, and the fact of evolution, is of great importance, because it is that attitude which has led to the devastation of so much, and we are in the situation that we are in".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rutherford |first1=A. |doi=10.1038/457967a |title=Q&A: Building on paradise |journal=Nature |volume=457 |issue=7232 |pages=967 |year=2009 |pmid=19225509 |bibcode=2009Natur.457..967R |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Also in early 2009, the BBC broadcast an Attenborough one-hour special, ''[[Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life]]''. In reference to the programme, Attenborough stated that "People write to me that evolution is only a theory. Well, it is not a theory. Evolution is as solid a historical fact as you could conceive. Evidence from every quarter. What is a theory is whether natural selection is the mechanism and the only mechanism. That is a theory. But the historical reality that dinosaurs led to birds and mammals produced whales, that's not theory."<ref name=whitworth>{{Cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5562484.ece |title=David Attenborough on Charles Darwin – Times Online |work=[[The Times]] |access-date=14 February 2009 |author=Whitworth, Damian |date=22 January 2009 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=5 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905203628/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> He strongly opposes creationism and its offshoot "[[intelligent design]]", saying that the results of a survey that found a quarter of science teachers in state schools believe that creationism should be taught alongside evolution in science lessons was "really terrible".<ref name=whitworth />

In March 2009, Attenborough appeared on ''[[Friday Night with Jonathan Ross]]''. Attenborough stated that he felt evolution did not rule out the existence of a God and accepted the title of agnostic saying, "My view is: I don't know one way or the other but I don't think that evolution is against a belief in God".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvoJSlcIYmM |title=David Attenborough on ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' |via=YouTube |date=31 October 2009 |access-date=4 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902110558/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvoJSlcIYmM |archive-date=2 September 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Attenborough has joined the evolutionary biologist [[Richard Dawkins]] and other top scientists in signing a campaign statement co-ordinated by the [[British Humanist Association]] (BHA). The statement calls for "creationism to be banned from the school science curriculum and for evolution to be taught more widely in schools".<ref name="The Telegraph">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8769353/David-Attenborough-joins-campaign-against-creationism-in-schools.html |title=David Attenborough joins campaign against creationism in schools |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=19 September 2011 |access-date=6 October 2014 |last=Collins |first=Nick |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008095340/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8769353/David-Attenborough-joins-campaign-against-creationism-in-schools.html |archive-date=8 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>