Here in the United States, we have quite a bit of things that other countries don’t. One of those things is the separation of church and state. I imagine there is another country or two where they may have this, but I haven’t heard of them.
Another one of those things is a pantload of whack job fundamentalist Evangelical Christians. No country outweighs us in that.
Over a period of 26 years, from 1982 to 2008, Gallup took 9 polls with the question:
“Which of the following statements comes closest to your views on the origin and development of human beings? (1) Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process. (2) Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process. (3) God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.” (Options rotated 1-3, 3-1) 1
In those polls, between 4% and 9% were unsure. Between 9% and 14% said that God had no part in it. Between 35% and 40% believe it was guided by God, but the most distressing and least wavering results were from those that believe that God created human beings just as they are within the last 10,000 years. Between 43% and 47% of the United States citizens believe this crap.
Now, I bet you will never guess at what the most disturbing poll out there shows. In 2007, there was a question asked that is exactly the same as the one above, but with drastically different results.
Creationism — that is, the idea that God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years
The possible answers were: “Definitely True”, “Probably True”, “Probably False”, “Definitely False”, “Unsure”
39% of people polled said definitely true, and 27% said probably true. That’s 68% of people that have no idea what reality is. Over 2/3 of the people in that poll believe that the earth is about 10,000 years old.
Now, for those of you who didn’t catch the footnote, I have a link to those polls at the bottom of this post.
Why This Matters
Well, if you ask why this matters, you’re definitely not someone who’s likely to read this blog. It should be obvious. We have somehow become the most advanced nation in the world with a population half full of idiots.
Imagine a child that is brought up believing this garbage. What if that child wants to become an archaeologist, or an astrophysicist, or a biologist, or any of a thousand other careers that rely on real world facts and observations?
The things we are taught as children are often the things that we grow up having the hardest time getting over as adults. When we are children, we need to rely on the authority of others to get our information, because there is no way we could learn all we need to know on our own. During that period, when we blindly believe what people tell us, especially adults, and even more especially, our parents, we have no mechanism to defend against bullshit. In fact, it is rare that a child completely breaks free of the ideologies of their parents.
It is because of this that we need to worry. This ignorance can spread. It is possible that we could end up in a country where we are held back as a nation because of fairy tales for adults, and I believe we already are.
Look how advanced we are right now, even with half of the country living in the dark ages. Imagine how much farther along we would be if people didn’t teach their children that science is evil, and only the science that doesn’t make the bible look foolish is good science. Hell, speaking of dark ages, how far advanced would the world be right now had the ignorance spread by religion not have happened back then.
Religious Moderates are the Problem
People that think it’s okay to let everyone believe what they want to believe without being ridiculed for it are a huge problem. Religious moderates are to blame here. There are enough of you to really put the heat on these people so that they don’t spread their absurd beliefs, but you say and do nothing. You join the bandwagon when people talk about how Christianity is under attack without even considering why that might be in the first place.
I agree that people can believe what they want to believe, but I also say that your beliefs are not beyond ridicule just because they stem from a religion. You shouldn’t either.
If you are a Christian, or any other type of believer, you should be just as outraged, if for no other reason than these people make you all look like fools. You should be the first ones out there fighting with these people.
We risk going into another dark age, every time these idiots get their hands on our schools, or put another of their ilk into office. It is time to get back to what the founding fathers created this country to be. Completely separate from any religious ideology.
Religion should be practiced in private, not forced down the throats of everyone around you. Keep your personal relationship with God personal.