"不幸的是，这种宗教在美国正在流行"

转自小百合，英文原版看后面，转子Salon.com

不过我觉得他对美国新教不了解，美国新教有两个阵营，evangelical 和 mainline

通用的定义，mainline包括7个新教demoninations，称为Seven Sisters. United Methodist Church是承认evolution的，也是Seven Sisters之一。UMC是美国第二大新教支派，是第三大基督教支派，次于Baptist和天主教，有 8 million信徒。

evangelical 的代表是Southern Bapstist Convention, 前几年为same-sex marriage和ordination of female pastor的事情脱离全世界Baptist的联盟。大概Charles Dawkins说的是evangelical的教会，不幸的是，SBC位居美国新教和所有宗教第一位，有16 million 信徒。

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问：仍然有很多人拒绝相信进化论。这种抗拒从何而来？

道金斯：遗憾地说，这种抗拒来自宗教。而且是来自于坏宗教。你不会从老练的、受过教
育的神学家那里听到任何对进化观念的反对。这种抗拒来自一种极度智力迟钝的原始版的
宗教。不幸的是，这种宗教在美国正在流行。不是在欧洲，不是在英国，而是在美国。

我的美国朋友告诉我，你们（美国人）正在滑入一个神学的黑暗中世纪。美国众多受过教
育的、有才智的思想健全的人们讨厌这种情况。不幸的是，如今那些投票选出布什的无知
、没受过教育的人们，在数量上稍微超过了他们。

但是历史的大方向是朝着启蒙前进的，因此我认为今天美国正在经历的，将被证明是一个
暂时的倒退。我认为未来的希望很大。我的建议是：不要失望，这些东西终将过去


Still, so many people resist believing in evolution. Where does the resistance come from?

It comes, I'm sorry to say, from religion. And from bad religion. You
won't find any opposition to the idea of evolution among sophisticated,
educated theologians. It comes from an exceedingly retarded, primitive
version of religion, which unfortunately is at present undergoing an
epidemic in the United States. Not in Europe, not in Britain, but in
the United States.

My American friends tell me that you are slipping towards a theocratic
Dark Age. Which is very disagreeable for the very large number of
educated, intelligent and right-thinking people in America.
Unfortunately, at present, it's slightly outnumbered by the ignorant,
uneducated people who voted Bush in.

But the broad direction of history is toward enlightenment, and so I
think that what America is going through at the moment will prove to be
a temporary reverse. I think there is great hope for the future. My
advice would be, Don't despair, these things pass.