Quote:
Originally posted by gregor@Dec 21 2005, 07:02 AM
last night i heard on TV that only 49% of americans belive in evolution. In fact most of them (according to surveys) do not believe that man EVOLVED from ape. even if it was proven to be so.
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What most people forget about the US is that it's *not* comprised of New York City, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, Seattle, etc. That's only half the equation. The US is more than half generically "rural" in culture, where rural means grazing, farming, and related activities. There is a general difference of cultural beliefs between rural and urban dwellers. Until the last 25 years or so, these people had no articulate voice in the national media and political scene. Within the last 15 years, driven by the evangelical Christian movement that mobilized churchgoers through nationwide computer and cable networks, their "voice" has been found. It is a revolution of sorts comparable to the discovery by the Democratic Party of the black civil rights movement in the 1960s.
This coalition of neo-cons and far right churches don't have arguments against science that can hold up logically, or in the courts, but they do have sufficient force to cause temporary changes to the law until challenged in those courts. This explains efforts to put the beliefs of one branch of one religion's views in public schools, or put that same branch's religious symbols on display in public buildings.