Why so many creationists in USA?

Question

They probably won't read this, but here goes:

I always put forward the Noah story to show the futility of believing the Bible explicitly. We know now that there are 10s of thousands of animal species that would need to be saved in the event of a flood that supposedly turned over the whole Earth’s crust (creationists argument for geological layers and scientists’ mis-aging of fossils).

How would Noah get all over the world to pick up a sloth and jaguar in South America, a kangaroo in Australia, a giant tortoise in the Galapogas, etc, etc, etc?

How would he get tens of thousands of species pairs into the ark?

The last time I put this to a creationist, he came back and said that all those animals were living in Noah’s vicinity at the time.

That rests the case doesn’t it?

A bit more:

Do creationists not realize that 500 years ago, scientists were persecuted and even tortured and executed by the church for daring to say that the Earth is not the center of the universe? Do they still believe that the sun whizzes around the Earth every day, and that the Earth is flat? Because the fact is that the mass of geological and paleological evidence that the Earth and life has evolved over billions of years, is as overwhelming and indisputable as the astronomical evidence for the Earth being simply a speck in the scheme of the universe.

These people are living in Medieval times, and it is hard to believe that people can be so naïve. Their kind of blind belief in the face of vast and overwhelming evidence that is contrary to their notions, is exactly the same as the nonsense that is drummed into fanatical suicide bombers who are indoctrinated to believe we in the west are evil, and that they will go to heaven if they murder and maim us.

and lastly:

And if we didn’t have a liberal, free society, and our churches had the power they did in the Middle Ages, I could be tortured and executed by them for saying what I have said here.

(The last time I had this out with a creationist, he said he would pray for me. Wow!)

Answer 1

Nick,

To answer your question, there are so many creationists in the USA simply because christianity is the dominant religion in the US, and christianity teaches creation.

However, I do sympathize with your frustration over this. The problem arises because scientists are using a combination of logic and empirical observation to support their views, and creationists are using their faith in the bible to support theirs. It's just two entirely different ways of thinking, apples and oranges. You can't argue the merits of evolutionary theory with a die-hard creationist any more than a New Yorker can argue the merits of the subway vs. the bus with an Aborigine tribesman.

At the same time, though, as smarty marti pointed out, there ARE religious people out there who are able to place faith in the most important aspects of christianity, and at the same time accept science as an explanation for more material observations. There is nothing wrong with this, and I think these people are wise to be accepting of different ways of thinking for different topics and different tasks.

Answer 2

I think that you need to look at the historical development of American society to answer this question. During the early period many groups of settlers who were members of odd-ball, mainly fundamentalist, religious sects came from Europe in an attempt to avoid being persecuted by the established churches of their home countries. America, being the size it is, allowed them the space to develop their communities in near isolation resulting in a total lack of cross-fertilization with other forms of thought and ideas so forming large "islands" of unchanging religious belief. The great majority of the early settlers were simple farmers with all the superstitious beliefs of such uneducated people. The few educated members of their groups were the religious leaders of their respective sects who had a vested interest in clamping down on any form of free thought in order to maintain their power over their followers. Even today with the great improvements in communication America still remains a mainly rural country, the vast majority of its population living in small towns miles from anywhere where conforming to the attitudes of the neighbours is vital for survival - if you think differently you are excluded, and so, these local sects survive and grow. Add to this the quite disgusting state of education in the U.S. you can see that these ridiculous ancient beliefs are propagated without even being questioned in the main. Any attempt to discuss the matter of evolution with these people is a waste of time, their closed minds prevents them from even hearing what you say.

Answer 3

Never ask a creationist about their beliefs because the answer won't make any sense and it won't accomplish anything. Christians blindly follow the Bible and believe every word of it is literal and infallible. They are entitled to their own opinions, but immediately brush off amazing amounts of evidence against their beliefs.

Thanks for being educated enough to ask this.

Answer 4

What I just don't get is why God and science can't co-exist... Why can't God have planned evolution? Even Einstein believed in a creator - not in a 'personal' God but he was in awe of architect of the Universe and one reason he struggled so long against quantum mechanics (probability and chance)

By the way, don't paint all Christians with a broad brush - there are plenty of Christians that don't have a problem reconciling science and God - in fact, to me the more we learn, the greater awe I have for the Divine Mind

Answer 5

So if you already had this "out" what is your point here? Maybe you can research and explain how much of a miracle oops random chance it took for the Big Bang to take place.