Ending 2013 - Pessimistic About Our Future

I really hate to end the year on such a downer but here it is.

From Pewforum.org:

According to a new Pew Research Center analysis, six-in-ten Americans (60%) say that “humans and other living things have evolved over time,” while a third (33%) reject the idea of evolution, saying that “humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time.”

One third of Americans reject one of the foundations of modern science.  Why?

Perhaps this is the reason:

These beliefs differ strongly by religious group. White evangelical Protestants are particularly likely to believe that humans have existed in their present form since the beginning of time. Roughly two-thirds (64%) express this view, as do half of black Protestants (50%). By comparison, only 15% of white mainline Protestants share this opinion.

Two thirds of white evangelical Protestants reject one of the foundations of modern science.

Then there's party affiliation:

There are sizable differences among partisan groups in beliefs about evolution. Republicans are less inclined than either Democrats or political independents to say that humans have evolved over time. Roughly two-thirds of Democrats (67%) and independents (65%) say that humans have evolved over time, compared with less than half of Republicans (43%).

About half of all Republicans reject one of the foundations of modern science.

I've written this a number of times but it seems I have to reiterate.  If we are a nation in decline, this has to be one of the reasons: a willful faith-based, politically-aligned, anti-intellectual rejection of science.

Happy New Year!