Being Religious

Interesting essay (via Steve Gilliard) :

So when I came to the US [he's actually talking of the US Mid West] I was shocked, absolutely stunned at just how absolutely people believed the Bible. This was the first time in my entire life that I had a religious text cited to me during a scientific debate. When one of my dorm-mates tossed out the "Evolution is an unproven theory whit a lot of holes" line at me I didn't even realize that it was the opening line for a serious debate. For a second I thought it was a throwaway one-liner. He doubted evolution! Not just one odd guy, but dozens upon dozens came at me that night. I actually have met 3 different people since that night who actually doubt that the earth is more than a few thousand years old. I still can't wrap my head around this concept.

Of course, this is also the country where a presidential hopeful has to keep iterating the fact that he is a believer to stand any chance of getting elected.