by Derek Snow

Created on: February 24, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

It all depends on what your definition of "We" is. Just as radical Islamists have left a bad taste in the mouths of many citizens of the West, radical Christians with their unenlightened, superstitious witch hunts of every discipline in science and philosophy that disagrees with their narrow interpretation of a crude compilation of ancient writings have left most of the world snickering at Americans. The haughty self-righteous posturing of these people would be funny if the consequences of their beliefs were not so profound.

It is amazing that in the 21st Century when miracles in medicine can be accomplished through the study of stem cells, the Christian Republican Radical Right has managed to slow down research that will eventually be of tremendous benefit to all mankind.

To be frank, I had rather put my faith into the hands of humans who have developed flight, space flight, electronic technology, organ transplant technology, vaccines, antibiotics, antivirals, and computer technology over the opinion of someone who actually believes that the earth is 6,000 years old and Noah put 2 of every animal on the planet into a small boat and rode out a universal flood to re-populate the planet, topped off with the idea that rainbows did not previously exist and as a group they are prepared to force these beliefs on the unbelievers of the world with the force of arms.

And to realize that the faithful actually throw money at these people to profess their ridiculous beliefs and the government not only listens to their dribble but subsidizes their operation with tax breaks makes it clear to me why the rest of the world would view Americans as "ignorant."

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