The Two Most Scientifically Ignorant Countries in the World: Turkey Is One

LiveScience.com has a chart showing public acceptance of Darwin's theory of evolution, by country. Thirty-four countries are listed. The United States is second from the bottom; the bottom is Turkey.

A comparison of peoples' views in 34 countries finds that the United States ranks near the bottom when it comes to public acceptance of evolution. Only Turkey ranked lower.

Among the factors contributing to America's low score are poor understanding of biology, especially genetics, the politicization of science and the literal interpretation of the Bible by a small but vocal group of American Christians, the researchers say.

"American Protestantism is more fundamentalist than anybody except perhaps the Islamic fundamentalist, which is why Turkey and we are so close," said study co-author Jon Miller of Michigan State University.

From Pacific Views; h/t Kevin Drum.