Generation DKSfS will be taking care of us in our dotage.

They don't know shit from Shinola, and don't care to. I'd be petrified if I didn't know that at least some of them are bright, intelligent, curious and socially aware.

Unfortunatley, there are dolts like Bill O'Reilly who will do whatever it takes to make the stupid among us feel vindicated and comfortable in their ignorance.

From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt5Xn9X6xtU

Well, you know, if Mr. Hawking wants to come on and tell us how the earth got here or why the sun comes up and goes down without interruption, why the tide goes in and goes out — no miscommunications ever, you know, if he wants to explain how all that happened, we're ready to receive him, but of course he can't.

If they wanna be nonbelievers, I don't care, that's up to them, but it's just as much of a stretch to be an atheist as it is to believe in God, because there's no explanation for how the planet got here, and Hawkings [sic] doesn't have it.

And from the infamous http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XEgkViLbTk where BillO rants again about the tides and how atheists insult all good Christians by calling them gullible, an interesting insight from David Silverman:

Silverman: OK, well, first of all, I will tell you straight up, there are tons and tons of atheists at Fox News behind the cameras and behind the microphones. And I know this not because I asked them, but because they sneak up and tell me, OK? And at that interview at that time, I was actually doing a couple of different events in New York City, so afterwards I stayed in the green room and hung out for a couple hours, and the atheists just came right out of the woodworks. There are lots and lots of atheists.

Now, as far as what the atmosphere is, you know, when you're off-camera, I need you to understand that, you know, people have made fun of the face that I made when he had the whole tide goes in, tide goes out. This is the scoop: Bill O'Reilly and I sat down at the table for a solid two minutes before the camera started rolling. Now, this is my second time on "The O'Reilly Factor". The first time, they mic'd me up beforehand, they sat me down, cameras rolled, end of the segment, off, and on I went. But this time, I actually had time to talk to the man. He's eloquent. He is knowledgeable. He is polite. He's courteous. He knew about Madalyn Murray O'Hair, he knew about Ron Barrier, the national-- the former national spokesperson of American Atheists, he knew about Annie Laurie Gailer. He had educated questions to ask.

And then the cameras started rolling, and we started duking it out, and we started fighting. And then he comes out with tide goes in, tide goes out, and that look on my face, that puzzled look that everybody likes to talk about, if you watch the tape, that look directly precedes a realization that you can see on-camera that I'm talking to a fictional person. I'm talking to...

David: The on-air persona of Bill O'Reilly.

Well, all I can say is that BillO knows his audience. And that he knows better than anyone else on the planet that they're gullible. And that he has absolutely no conscience about playing on that gullibility and using it to his advantage. And that he is aiding and abetting the kind of stupidity and ignorance that means the US will wallow lower and lower in the mire. And that he is part of the reason the rest of the developed world considers the US a laughingstock. I know lots about BillO, and I know he is an amoral prick, for all the above reasons. 

Here you go Bill. Isn't she cute? Perhaps she can take your place when you retire. ( from http://www.facebook.com/#!/georgehtakei )

The sad fact is, this is the second incident of this I have heard about in the last 6 months. On a blog I follow one of the commenters said that they had had a conversation with a young woman who would not believe that the sun wasn't a planet. When he had explained the concept of our solar system, she just responded that it wasn't something she needed to know so it wasn't that big a deal.