It seems to me that in recent years there has been a growing battle between religion and science. Time was the two disiplines kept their distance from each other in a agree to disagree fashion. Recently however religion has begun to instigate attacks on science .
The battleground centres on Evolutionary Theory vs Intelligent Design
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religi...ionism_1.shtml
Both are proposed explanations for one of the big questions that buzz around all of our heads from time to time. How did we get here? The problem comes when itelligent design which is no more than creationsm redressed as a pseudoscientific theory, is put to the test. To be a true scientific disipline you have hypotheses with testable variables. If your hypotheisis is "God created the world and everything in it" you can't prove or disprove it. Though as there is a lack of evidence to suggest the world was created by a supernatural being it should, at least for now, be shelved as a plausible answer.
Evolutionary theory on the other hand is really a theory by name only, It should be called evolutionary fact as more evidence for it grows by the day. While we may be still searching for missing links in our own species there are some good transitional chains in other, hopefully this link will explain more.
species.http://www.truthinscience.org.uk/site/content/view/261/63/
Nobody could deny that evolution in bacterium, they change so rapidly that they are becomming immune to antibacterials which is causing problems like the hospital super bugs. There is also evidence that fish species are getting smaller as only larger specimins are harvested by man, the same applies to tusk growth in elephants, elephants are growing smaller tusks in response to the ivory trade.
Contrary to popular belief i ultimately have no problem with people believing what they like. I may believe they are wrong and even ignorant to believe such things but its their choice and i can't stop them. I am however bothered by the teaching in schools of Intelligent design as a) a science and b) As a plausible alternative to evolution. You can't teach something you have no real evidence for as a science, yet 89 schools in the UK do so and in the US that number is certainly higher.
Not content with teaching this in school there is also a "creation museum"
http://www.creationmuseum.org/about in Kentucky in the US. This teaches that the earth is less than 10,000 years old and that man and dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time. You don't have to have a vast knowledge of science to realise that isn't true. They essentially believe that the book of Genesis should be taken completely literally even if it does contradict itself. Much of genesis including the creation myth has its orgins in Babalonian poetry and mythology so its not even as though it is orginal Judeo Christian belief. More about the beliefs of fundamental christians can be read here
http://www.answersingenesis.org/
It worries me that irrational belief seems to be on the grow, i'm fairly sure there are other people on this forum that share my concerns.