US Trails World in Accepting Evolution

Cross posted from Liberal Values

A survey published in Science finds that the United States ranks 33 out of 34 countries studied on acceptance of evolution. At least we beat Turkey. (Hat tip to Stranger Fruit via The Lippard Blog and Panda's Thumb.) Still doubt we are in danger of becoming a theocracy?

Update: Since I originally posted this on Thursday, there has been increased coverage. LiveScience unsurprisingly finds this to be due to a combination of ignorance of basic science and the spread of fundamentalist religious beliefs. The problem is worse in the United States due to American fundamentalists interpreting the bible more literally:

The analysis found that Americans with fundamentalist religious beliefs—defined as belief in substantial divine control and frequent prayer—were more likely to reject evolution than Europeans with similar beliefs. The researchers attribute the discrepancy to differences in how American Christian fundamentalist and other forms of Christianity interpret the Bible.While American fundamentalists tend to interpret the Bible literally and to view Genesis as a true and accurate account of creation, mainstream Protestants in both the United States and Europe instead treat Genesis as metaphorical, the researchers say.

“Whether it’s the Bible or the Koran, there are some people who think it’s everything you need to know,” Miller said. “Other people say these are very interesting metaphorical stories in that they give us guidance, but they’re not science books.”

There is further discussion at Pharyngula which puts the blame on the Republican Party.