It's FUNDAMENTALISM, which has really gained traction lately. People who belive the Bible, instead of metaphors and fables, or stories of great speakers using such to get a "hey let's not murder people" message across, is 1000% FACT and anyone who belive otherwise is RETARDED or SATAN (not worshipping Satan, or serving Satan, ACTUALLY THE FUCKING DEVIL HIMSELF) and should literally be burned at the stake or crucified.
My Dad, raised by fundies and surrounded by fundies his whole life, with fundies being the sole interaction with religion he's had, now belives ALL CHRISTIANITY IS EVIL AND STUPID. So yeah, fundamentalism kind of totally fucked up everything and everyone because taking such faithful stock in a book that old won't ever come back to bite you in the ass...
Deism should be Americas status quo, I think. You get the neat "Thou shalt not brutalize the neighbor with a carving knife" that science lacks, and you don't get the book burning that comes with the Westboro Baptist Church people. If God really cared, he wouldn't.
There's a reason most people see the ark story as non-literal; it's entirely impossible with any size boat.
That's not true. You could theoretically build a boat capable of hosting two instances of every living species, it would just be the largest boat ever made and would be a completely impractical waste of resources that would most likely end up sinking anyway.
Noah is Dwarf. Note the beard.