As the post-9/11 secular world gets the message out that we fear Islamists, not Islam, the Christianist movement in the States is also gaining momentum. Today in Kansas the Creation Museum opens, offering a history of the world based on the biblical tall tale that God created the universe in six days.
The Creation Museum mocks evolutionary science and invites visitors to find faith and truth in God. It welcomes its first paying guests — $19.95 for adults, $9.95 for children, not counting discounts for joining a mailing list — just weeks after three Republican presidential candidates said they do not believe in evolution.On the brighter side, this means about half of Americans do believe in evolution. And with any luck, some of them are even presidential candidates.Opinion polls suggest about half of Americans agree. They dismiss the scientific theory that all beings have a common ancestor, believing instead that God created humans in one stroke. Similar numbers say the world's age should be counted in the thousands of years, not billions, as established science would have it. (full story, without my added emphasis, here)
Thanks to Seattle's excellent The Stranger for pointing this out.