In case you needed proof that Intelligent Design truly is creationist pseudo-science that has no scientific merit and is totally based in religion, I invite you to read this post on Uncommon Descent:
But there was no jury with Dover — only a single biased judge. This trial therefore wasn’t about ID. It was about what one judge thinks about ID. The success of ID has never depended on its success in the courtroom but always on the success of its scientific research. And it remains so.
I predict this decision will amount to very little in the long run. Why? Because ID is true. And in God’s world truth always wins out in the end. [Source]
(Emphasis Mine). Now tell me, does that sound like someone whose religious views in no way influence their scientific views? Right now is the eschaton of Intelligent Design, just like the late 1980s were for “Creation Science”.
Now I’ll admit that I read blogs that like because there is something deeply addicting about it. That is why I read blogs like The Blue Site and watch the 700 Club. It’s addicting. The aforementioned link goes to a site by some guy in Indiana who looks suprisingly Indian. He’s a typical conservative Christian creationist (the 3 C’s); the kind of guy who hates Michael Newdow and Evolution and all those evil secularist thingies; who even thinks that police should shoot every criminal in a car chase (read the “Rants” and “Essays” part of his site).
In short, an extremist. An example of what is wrong with Americans. They’re unwilling to admit that they might be wrong; unwilling to say, “Gee, maybe using a secular government to force schoolchildren to pray to the Christian God is wrong”, or “maybe evolutionary theory isn’t a secularist lie, seeing as how even Pope John-a Paul 2 gave it props”. They certainly won’t consider “Maybe Hitler was was so hellbent against Jews because he was taught that the Jews killed his Lord”.
People don’t need “open” minds. They need “free” minds. Free-thinking Minds.
No Cure for Snarkolepsy 
Great post! I, too, am obsessed with reading the far-right religious blogs, because the arguments become so silly and basic. One side with the facts, the other side with assertions and “deeply held beliefs.” Great reading.
Thanks John. The post on your blog quoted a commenter from Uncommon Descent that I’ve written about before.
What does any of this have to do with Americans? I’m an American, and I hate religious extremism as much as anybody. In fact, the function of my blog is fighting against Christian extremism in America. Yes, America has a serious problem with Christian idiocy. But it isn’t like we are the only country with an extremist problem, you know.
Leave Americans out of it–not because many of us are not as you describe us, but because what you describe can be seen at every inhabited spot on the Earth.
Unwillingness to admit one is wrong, and ease of believing in what is technically known as crazy mixed-up nonsense, is not an American trait, it’s a HUMAN trait. It’s bred in the bone.
Can people start to really get that, please?
The extremism is only one facet of what is wrong with America.
While religious extremism can be found in every nation of this earth, it is nevertheless true that the United States happens to suffer from a proportionally higher number of them in influential positions of authority (such as government and business).
Why is this so? How did this come about?
This is because religious extremists live to do what they believe is right for their religion, what they usually see as right is them being in a position of power to better aid their particular sect. The reason so many of them achieve this is because they are allowed to under “Life, liberty and the persuit of happiness.” Another reason other countries seem not to suffer so much from this is that the overwhelming patriotism found in America is often mistaken for religious ferver.
Many of the problems in America are due to religious influence, but it’s not a problem with Americans, it is a problem with America. Religion and power have always been closely tied together, take a look at world history. Dante, I would like to hear more of what’s wrong with America.
The problem with posts like this one is that they are written by people who don’t have a lot of exposure with America/Americans nor do they know much about US history. Don’t be scared, go there, talk with Americans (and don’t insult them — a common habit with those not from there). Ignorance is the biggest problem with these sites — and you folks who hate Americans because they are different than you. For everyone else that’s bigotry, but I guess the people on this post are too enlightened to be simpleton bigots, aren’t you?
Read, learn, open your minds and drop the prejudice.