Brilliantly said.
Btw... somewhat unrelated point: i REALLY dont get why in the US some ppl pit science and religion against eachother so much. In Europe there are ton of officially catholic countries and they dont have such beef with science. The point is that science and religion are NOT mutually exclusive.
However, whenever anything related to science comes up, some americans get SUPER defensive about their religion.
The reason is twofold: (1) the state of science education in the US is very poor. I don't believe that anyone could grow to like science via our educational system; I got interested in science at a very early age, and my interest survived totally apart from and, truthfully,
in spite of my education. This has led to a population that honestly has no idea how to evaluate scientific statements, and they are easily persuaded that their own thoughts on a scientific subject are as valid as those of scientists.
I know that sounds arrogant, but that's not how I mean it. These same people, with few exceptions, will accept the results of medical tests & the conclusions of their doctors, ditto their attorneys, tax consultants, plumbers, or gardeners, but they think, led by their religious leaders, that they know more about whether a meteor will hit the earth than astronomers do, or whether an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico is likely to rupture than engineers do. I'm not talking about the whole population here, but enough to influence American politics and therefore American policy.
(2) Along with that, a significant number of Americans believe that every word in the Bible is literally true. The universe was created in 7 days and is about 4000 years old, for example. This means theories such as the Big Bang and evolution by natural selection are impossible, so they don't believe them and make every attempt to block them from being taught in American schools. They apparently don't realize that Newton's Laws of Thermodynamics also are impossible, along with probably 85% of all other theories in physics and chemistry, or that without an understanding of evolution modern medicine also would not exist.
These people are increasingly influential in American politics and, of course, fit perfectly with the first group above. There is a very strong current in the US today of people who are anti-intellectual and anti-education. Anyone who is well-educated is viewed as an enemy, largely because educated people are able to recognize all the nonsense for what it is. Sadly, the enti-intellectuals are winning more and more people over to their side.
It's also very convenient; for example, the US, along with China, is the greatest stumbling block to action on global climate change. Why? Because enough of our politicians believe that climate change doesn't exist that our country has NO policy on it. Why is this convenient? Because that means we don't have to make any sacrifices.
