Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Christian and Islamic fundamentalists are equally nutty on the issue of human origins

A new study based on public surveys in the United States, Japan and 32 European countries shows that only the Turks rank lower than Americans in public acceptance of evolution.

The story on the Fox News Web site (yeah, really, Fox News) explains the sorry situation thusly:

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 fundamentalists, which is why Turkey and we are so close," said study co-author Jon Miller of Michigan State University.

I wonder if your typical American Christian creationist knows of his or her philosophical kinship on this matter with your typical raging Islamist toting an AK-47.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"your typical raging Islamist toting an AK-47."

You should be ashamed of yourself for perpetuating this stereotype. Most Islamists are peaceful followers of their religion. You're as bad as the Rush Limbaugh types.

The Rascal said...

Your point is well taken. I seem not to have expressed myself clearly. I didn't mean to say that Muslims typically are raging gun-toters. I meant that Islamists -- including the raging gun-toters -- typically don't believe in evolution, especially the evolution of humans. Some Muslims do, however, believe in evolution among lower forms of life. Sorry for the confusion.

The Rascal said...

One more point: In my post, I referred to a "raging Islamist toting an AK-47" because I thought that kind of Muslim -- and there are such people, let's face it -- would be the kind to which fundamental Christians would least want to be likened. My objective, then, was to discomfit right-wing Christians, not peaceful Muslims. But, as you note, I missed the mark.

Anonymous said...

"But, as you note, I missed the mark."

I understand, sometimes its hard to recognize parody.