Clanad...I may have misinterpreted your post as being supportive of backward religious beliefs. If I have done so, than please accept my apologies !
You are right of course.....Britain does have some problems in the cult and weird religions area, as I pointed out in my post. Weirdo cults is one thing....fundamentalist Christianity is quite another. Christianity is main stream here, and in America. But in America millions are taken in by this nonsense...its a matter of scale. If we use Fitzer's Gallup poll above, a third of adult Americans believe in the literal truth of the Bible. That could be approaching 30-40 millions people !
I am getting a bit concerned that these religions are starting to get a hold in Britain, especially when it comes to schooling. Free Schools, for instance do not have to follow the National Curriculum. A lot of these new schools are religious based. Can we be sure that children attending these places are not taught conflicting lessons ?
For instance, if they are taught fundamentalist ideas in Religious Studies, which would include such nonsense as Noah's Ark, the world being created 6000 years ago, etc, dinosaurs walking alongside man, can we be sure that in Science classes, that they will be taught proper science ? I would hope that the kids are taught real science but doesn't that conflict with what they have been told is true in the Religious Studies class, and won't that simply confuse them ?
How, for instance could Geology or Geography be taught, using fundamentalist Christian principles, or Muslim come to that ? How would you explain to a child about how the Grand Canyon was formed, if you also taught that very same child, in a previous lesson, earlier that morning, that the world was only 6000 years old ? The two things are entirely at odds with each other.
I can only see this problem getting worse here in Britain, especially now that this hare-brained idea of Gove's Free Schools has taken hold. They don't even have to employ qualified teachers for goodness sake !
As a committed Atheist, I get a bit hot under the collar on this subject, so apologies in advance !