The prophets of Creationism, like the televangelists and infomercial salesmen, have found a receptive audience who will accept and pay for their product. Their flock of religious-minded, scientifically-naive Christians view the world through the narrow prism of their Bible, accepting a literal interpretation of Scripture. In their view, despite a wealth of scientific evidence to the contrary, the Earth is less than 10,000 years old.
Of course, science has been a threat to religions since their earliest years and many scholars have felt the wrath of the Church. Creationists are just the latest group to attack the advance of science, finding support from an uneducated populace and vote-hungry politicians. I suspect that these prophets are too intelligent to believe their own propaganda, but the money and prestige keeps them going. If we allow them to influence our educational programs, we will all be the poorer; religion has no place in the science classroom.
