Here’s an encouraging* bit of information: A recent Gallup Poll has found that one-third of Americans believe the Bible is literally true. They also found that the less educated a person is, the more likely they will believe this.
I’m shocked!
Now one can interpret this in a kindly manner or not.
Here’s the generous interpretation which is probably most likely to be true: Ignorance (as opposed to raw stupidity) makes a person more likely to be credulous. The more a person knows and the more a person has been exposed to critical thinking, the less likely that person will believe in ancient myths created by primitive humans.
There are exceptions, of course; President Bush went to Yale.
This obvious kind of variation and exception can be explained in many ways, but I suspect that the greatest determinant of whether a person is skeptical or not is some natural curiosity that either exists in a particular individual or does not. A person either wants to know the truth, or instead wants to think that they already know the truth.
Since the vast majority of humanity thinks they already know the truth, despite the fact that no one variety of religious group-think is in the majority in the world, it is safe to say that the trait of erroneously thinking that one has a handle on the Truth is a majority trait.
Now here is another item to throw into the stew: Most people who think that the Bible is literally true have little idea of what is in the Bible. Of course, these are among those who are most certain of their facts.
And of course, only such a person can be elected to public office.
*Sarcasm alert
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