The Ape's Ass View
but a fundamentalist Republican senator.
The U.S. is going backward about as fast as we moved forward. Our nation of primitive religious fanatics lags behind in the world in grasping genetics and accepting evolution writes Ker Than at LiveScience.com, about a piece in the August 11 issue of Science:
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.
...Politics is also contributing to America's widespread confusion about evolution, the researchers say. Major political parties in the United States are more willing to make opposition to evolution a prominent part of their campaigns to garner conservative votes—something that does not happen in Europe or Japan.
Miller says that it makes about as much sense for politicians to oppose evolution in their campaigns as it is for them to advocate that the Earth is flat and promise to pass legislation saying so if elected to office.
"You can pass any law you want but it won't change the shape of the Earth," Miller told LiveScience.
Morons. And they don't even know enough to be embarrassed.
i think i might be gay. do you know how to tell if you are gay?
i really like hanging out all day kibbutzing with other pajamas media bloggers. it makes me tho happy!
is there something wrong with me?
thanx!
steve janke
stevejanke at August 11, 2006 12:08 PM
I think saying "tho happy" is a pretty big clue.
LYT at August 11, 2006 6:57 PM
Here's a link for you, Senator:
http://darwiniana.org/
Radwaste at August 12, 2006 7:48 AM
Good site. Thanks.
aluminum canopy at October 25, 2006 3:50 AM
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