Religion - our maelstrom of ignorance

By PZ MYERS, PHARYNGULA
Added: Sun, 10 Jun 2007 23:00:00 UTC

Thanks to Florian Widder for the link.

Reposted from:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/06/religionour_maelstrom_of_ignor.php

We've got a new Gallup poll on evolution to agonize over. It's nothing but bad news—we are a nation of uneducated morons. Gary chose to weep over the political correlation: look how membership in the Republican party is tied to ignorance about science.

graph1
The clear majority of Republicans are screwed up. And you know, I'm not too happy with the Democrats, either. These results tell us that the population across the board is messed up, confused, lied to, and festering in ignorance—it's just that right now the Republican party is a magnet for the stupid.

What's the cause? Look a little more closely. Here's another chart that exhibits an even more marked difference.

graph2
Yeah, being a Republican may not be causal, but going to church every week since childhood probably induces brain damage. This is just a correlation, of course, so how about asking those people who reject evolution why?

I believe in Jesus Christ: 19%
I believe in the almighty God, creator of Heaven and Earth: 16%
Due to my religion and faith: 16%
Not enough scientific evidence to prove otherwise: 14%
I believe in what I read in the Bible: 12%
I'm a Christian: 9%
I don't believe humans come from beasts/monkeys: 3%
Other: 5%
No reason in particular: 2%
No opinion: 3%

The overwhelming majority credit their religion; the two secular excuses ("not enough scientific evidence" and "we didn't come from no monkeys") are common enough phrases among the creationists that I expect a majority of those are ultimately due to religion, too. So tell me, everyone: why are scientists supposed to respect religion, this corrupter of minds, this promulgator of lies, this damnable institution dedicated to delusion, in our culture?

Maybe we need to start picketing fundamentalist churches. Maybe it's about time that we recognize religious miseducation as child abuse.

TAGGED: CREATIONISM, EVOLUTION, POLITICS, POLLS