Unbelievable

Based on polls taken by Gallup between May 2005 and May 2007, one-third of Americans believe the bible is literally true.  (h/t FriendlyAtheist for the link)

Can yo believe that?

One out of three people read the bible, and say "yes - that actually happened."  One-third believe Noah built an ark, filled it with 2 of every species (except unicorns and dinosaurs), and waited for the rain.  One-third believe that a man lived to be 969 years old (give or take a century or two).

I have already discussed bible literalists - but I did not realize (and have a hard time comprehending) that there were so many.... The US population is approximately 300,000,000, and some simple math puts that one-third figure at one hundred million.

Of course, some questions are raised by the thought of "the bible is the literal truth"...
 - The first has to be: "Which bible?"  (Why are there so many versions?)  Some list Methuselah's age to be 969 years at death, while others put it close to 700.  Was he a ghost only partially there for 200+ years?  Which translation is THE translation?  (As a bible literalist once told me - "if god can create the universe, the earth, and man, don't you think he could find a good publisher?"  Well - which "publisher" is right?)
 - How old is the earth?  Science and carbon dating put the earth at between 4-5 billion yeas old.  Literalists looking at genealogies in the bible put it close to 8,500 years.  (Detractors of the 4-5 billion year age claim the reason there exists conflicting or confusing "evidence" of the earth's age is that the devil put that false evidence there.  Hmmm - you think that if god could find a good publisher, he could also find a good groundskeeper to remove such rubbish.)
 - If these 100,000,000 true believers are REALLY true believers, and if failure to follow their god's words and commands are sins, why are theses 100,000,000 people not going around killing gays, adulterers, non-believers, etc?  Please do not get me wrong - I do not want them to do those horrid acts, and if somebody does try to follow through on those acts, I will do what I can to defend myself and others targeted by their brand of mythology.  But it seems to me that if your really Really REALLY BELIEVE, you should be doing something about it.

Am I ever glad I am not a science teacher right about now...