Creationism vs Empiricism

No wonder Europeans laugh at us. According to a poll conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, about 42 percent of respondents believe that "living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time" -- creationism, in other words. And an incredible 64 percent believe that creationism and evolution should be taught together in American public schools.

Just so you don't assume that these convictions fall along party lines there's this:

John C. Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum, said he was surprised to see that teaching both evolution and creationism was favored not only by conservative Christians, but also by majorities of secular respondents, liberal Democrats and those who accept the theory of natural selection. Mr. Green called it a reflection of "American pragmatism."

Reread those sentences. This is jawdropping. I am not one to bite the hand that feeds me, but if most of my readers believe that a non-empirical approach to understanding the world is essential to them, then they're fucking stupid and they should stop reading this site.