Jerry “Why Evolution Is True” Coyne has a paper, “Science, Religion, and Society: the Problem of Evolution in America” in Evolution (Vol. 66 Issue 4), explaining
American resistance to accepting evolution is uniquely high among First World countries. This is due largely to the extreme religiosity of the U.S., which is much higher than that of comparably advanced nations, and to the resistance of many religious people to the facts and implications of evolution. The prevalence of religious belief in the U.S. suggests that outreach by scientists alone will not have a huge effect in increasing the acceptance of evolution, nor will the strategy of trying to convince the faithful that evolution is compatible with their religion. Since creationism is a symptom of religion, another strategy to promote evolution involves loosening the grip of faith on America. This is easier said than done, for recent sociological surveys show that religion is highly correlated with the dysfunctionality of a society, and various measures of societal health show that the U.S. is one of the most socially dysfunctional First World countries. Widespread acceptance of evolution in America, then, may have to await profound social change.
Here’s a question an American can maybe help the UD News desk with: If America is so dysfunctional, why are there so many illegal as well as legal immigrants there?
Coyne, a new atheist, whose Why Evolution Is True has been highly praised by Michael Ruse, makes quite clear here the real view of the 78% of evolutionary biologists who are no-free-will atheistic naturalists.
One result is that he is a problem for the “Darwin in the schools” lobby, National Center for Science Education and Catholic Darwinist Ken Miller (see here and here).
An ongoing mystery is the Christian Darwinists, who imagine that there is a form of Christianity that would be viable under Darwinist rule. As if.
See also: New atheist Darwinist (Coyne) demands that Chronicle of Higher Education promote “incivility” toward religion