The Power of Knowledge

"According to a recent survey, only about a quarter of the population of the United States understands that evolution is about as well established as the fact that water is H20. This embarrassing statistic requires some explanation, since other scientifically advanced nations don't show the same pattern. ...It is simple: they have been solemnly told that the theory of evolution is false (or at least unproven) by people they trust more than they trust scientists." -Daniel Dennett, Breaking the Spell

This is appalling to me. The theory of evolution poses no real threat to religion (as much as I wish it did). Just as you can believe that the earth is round and revolves around the sun, you can believe in evolution. I suspect that hardly anyone takes the Judaic/Christian creation story literally any more - my dad, for instance, told me when I was young (and this was controversial for me at the time) that he believed God created the earth in an instant, but that it was created with a history (whatever that means) - so it doesn't matter if there were never such people as Adam and Eve.

Evolution can easily be worked into a Christian's worldview, but the leaders of the church (as in the Middle Ages) are scared that giving people information is dangerous.

On that point at least, they happen to be right.