Religion constantly stifles knowledge

<snip> U.S. Lags World in Grasp of Genetics and Acceptance of Evolution

By Ker Than
LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 10 August 2006
02:01 pm ET

A comparison of peoples' views in 34 countries finds that the United States ranks near the bottom when it comes to public acceptance of evolution. Only Turkey ranked lower. Among the factors contributing to America's low score are poor understanding of biology, especially genetics, the politicization of science and the literal interpretation of the Bible by a small but vocal group of American Christians, the researchers say. “American Protestantism is more fundamentalist than anybody except perhaps the Islamic fundamentalist, which is why Turkey and we are so close,” said study co-author Jon Miller of Michigan State University.

The researchers combined data from public surveys on evolution collected from 32 European countries, the United States and Japan between 1985 and 2005. Adults in each country were asked whether they thought the statement “Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals,” was true, false, or if they were unsure.

The study found that over the past 20 years:

The percentage of U.S. adults who accept evolution declined from 45 to 40 percent.
The percentage overtly rejecting evolution declined from 48 to 39 percent, however.
And the percentage of adults who were unsure increased, from 7 to 21 percent.
Of the other countries surveyed, only Turkey ranked lower, with about 25 percent of the population accepting evolution and 75 percent rejecting it. In Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and France, 80 percent or more of adults accepted evolution; in Japan, 78 percent of adults did.

The findings are detailed in the Aug. 11 issue of the journal Science.<snip>

more @ http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060810_evo_rank.html

Evolution is a theory, not a hypothesis. Learn the difference. I would like to know why Christians in this country believe a compilation of stories, mixed with historical context, written by a group of people spanning hundreds of years apart with no scientific knowledge more-so than educated scholars of today? This will be America's downfall as the rest of the world surpasses us in education.

The percentage of U.S. adults who accept evolution declined from 45 to 40 percent.
The percentage overtly rejecting evolution declined from 48 to 39 percent, however.
And the percentage of adults who were unsure increased, from 7 to 21 percent.

Even if they're not actually getting people to agree with them, the anti-scientists have successfully muddied the waters to the extent that it's becoming increasingly difficult to pay for science and to train scientists in this country.

I guess since they can't own the pool of knowledge, they just pee in it and ruin it for everyone else.

PLUS, they get to benefit from the fruits of science. Is there any way to help these people hold true to their convictions? When breakthroughs are discovered, can we help them by withholding treatment? You know, give them a bag of leeches and access to a preacher. Admittedly, I am ranting but they are AMAZINGLY hypocritical. I'm just a hypocrite.

"I guess since they can't own the pool of knowledge, they just pee in it and ruin it for everyone else." -Bill McBlueState

That's hillarious. I think they dropped a few floaters in there too.

Religious thought is a virus - spirituality is not, nor is an honest non-ideologized belief in a higher authority. But the obedience meme implicit in organized religion is a powerful one, and it is quite capable of turning even the best minds around.

In all polling, your own social experience bears this out, there is a mush headed factor susceptible to any rumor or opinion creation that tickles the fancy or speaks with some mask of authority. Gullibility, stupidity, vulnerable ignorance, call it what you will, large numbers are prey to the soft clay syndrome.

That is why you can never have too much skepticism about the real capacity for humans to hold to critical truths. The famous lincoln dictum can be reformulated a bit to describe it. All of us can be gulled in certain ways and too many are always vulnerable, their adhesion to the truth accidental to its influence socially at the moment. When you walk into a room of educated people which is more likely to be heard with intellectual respect: that there are flying saucers or global warming? At first, considering the paradigm shift away from fantastic anti-scientific propaganda in the face of mounting evidence, one smiles and thinks, surely... but then comes a doubt.

"Bruce Chapman, the president of the Discovery Institute, the primary backer of ID, has a different view of the study.

"A better explanation for the high percentage of doubters of Darwinism in America may be that this country's citizens are famously independent and are not given to being rolled by an ideological elite in any field," Chapman said. "

What a feeble argument. So the so-called independent thinkers are granted that accolade because they reject proven facts and well argued theses, choosing instead to follow interpreters of biblical texts (let's call them the theological elite)? How is that independent thinking?

I suspect that the truth is a deep-rooted disdain for the intellectual (here, "ideological elite": most people would just call them educated experts) is partly to blame. It certainly works well for Bush.

might figure out the scam. Bye, bye Hubble Space telescope. You are finding out too much about the Universe.

Natural selection is a theory