Religion+in+America.+Regressing?

In the 21st century, many educated people will have expected religious tolerance to have increased and religions diversified. 200 years ago it was almost a guarantee that at least %98 of America’s citizens to be listed as Christian. Today, only %76 identify themselves into that category and %20 lists themselves as “unaffiliated”. The remaining stats fall into other minority religions, like Muslim, Jewish, etc. (Statistics on Religion in America Report ). Huge religious controversy was stirred up in November of 2005 when, after a lot of debate in the Kansas, the Board of Education at last voted to challenge the nation’s basic scientific establishment in order to teach doubts about Darwinism and simultaneously present the theory of intelligent design. In 2004, President Bush stated that he believed both sides of the argument should be taught in schools as a more diplomatic approach. Indeed, Chairman Steve E. Abrams, who shepherded the Republican majority, said, on the day of the law going into effect, "This is a great day for education. This is one of the best things that we can do. This absolutely teaches more about science." The state of Kansas is often portrayed as “hokey”, “backwards”, and has a reputation in the States for its high population of Mormons and Evangelical Christians. Indeed, "This is a sad day, not only for Kansas kids, but for Kansas," said Janet Waugh, who voted against the new standards. "We're becoming a laughingstock, not only of the nation, but of the world." Although some supporters claimed their position was for the purpose of science, some board members made it clear that their decision was based on the belief that life cannot be explained by DNA, but rather a higher life-form (Slevin).
 * __ Religion and Ignorance in America __ **

In August of 2010, prominent New York Muslim leader Feisal Abdul Rauf made public his plans to build a Muslim community center near the sight of the 2001 terrorist attacks. Both New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Obama were strong supporters of these plans, but opposition soon rang out from across the country. Many people claimed that this was a disgrace to the memories of the thousands of people killed in the 9/11 attacks by Muslim extremists. Serious protests and debates dominated headlines for months as relatives of those killed spoke out on both sides, and the intensity was perhaps capped on September 5th, 2010, when Florida preacher Terry Jones threatened to burn hundreds of Qur’ans in an anti-Muslim demonstration with his congregation of Evangelicals (Waddell). This threat sparked riots all over the world (most notably in Afghanistan), and a reaction of disgust and shock from both sides of the argument—many (including President Obama) say that these incidents are the biggest incident of Islamophobia this country has ever seen. Although eventually the Muslims wishing to build the mosque five blocks from the site relented, many hope and pray that the social war between American religions will soon come to an end.
 * __ The Ground Zero Mosque and Terry Jones __ **