US social decline - they're getting dumber

Am I the only one noticing that the US is devolving into some kind of religious stupidity? That they're slowly leaving the world of secularism for religion? That they're becoming more and more stupid?

No I'm not. There are many who have noticed, not least from within the US itself. 

Perhaps there's still some hope for this big experiment called the US? For from within it comes the most scathing criticism of itself. Anyone or any country that still has the ability to openly criticise itself has hope:

The reason these statistics, and there are many more signaling America as a nation is bible-stupid and getting stupider, are important was best articulated by Susan Jacoby of the “Age of American Unreason.” Jacoby wrote that, “This level of scientific illiteracy provides fertile soil for political appeals based on sheer ignorance.” It is true, and exactly why Republicans are able to convince truly ignorant Americans, primarily in the former Confederacy, to support policies against their own self-interests and interests of the United States, such as combating climate change, planning for the future, or spending even one penny on education. 

The source of anti-science ignorance is the Christian bible that evangelical fundamentalists and many mainstream Christians believe is literal universal truths because it was handed to Christians by god almighty. Over a third of all Americans believe every word in the bible is absolute truth, and 60% of Americans are waiting for the war of Armageddon to bring about the end of the world. Interestingly, there is as much ignorance of the Christian bible as science because the majority of Americans cannot even name the first book of the bible, if they even know how to read. It led Jacoby to ask, “How can citizens understand what creationism means, or make an informed decision about whether it belongs in classrooms, if they cannot even locate the source of the creation story?” 

There is a direct correlation to ignorance of science and the importance placed on teaching it in public schools; primarily in the Southern United States where fundamental Christianity is an epidemic. In fact, and this is appalling, a University of Texas study revealed that clearly 25% of public school biology teachers believe human beings and dinosaurs coexisted in perfect harmony. It is no wonder that 72% of teabaggers distrust science and scientists, and why they join Republicans crusading to slash funding for education as well as oppose attempts to assuage the devastation of global climate change. more