I had the opportunity to listen to a one of the leading experts on the subject give a talk on the development of herbicide resistance among weeds. It's a problem every bit as serious as the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria, if not more so, as there has not been an herbicide with a new mode of action developed in over a decade and there do not appear to be any new products on the horizon. After the talk, when I went up to him and asked how he hoped to get the message of resistance across to a population who doesn't even believe in evolution, he shrugged and shook his head.
That's the problem. It's not enough to say "you believe in religion as the answer to everything and I'll believe in science, and we'll all go our merry ways." A small handful of sufficiently stupid people have the potential to screw things up for everyone. Unfortunately, when it comes to using antibiotics and herbicides, it's not a small number of people, but a substantial portion of the population. Ignorance of basic biology represents a threat to the health and welfare of all of us.
The problem seems to lie with the fact that many people are unable to understand the most basic of syllogisms; if it requires independent thought, it's beyond their ken. They rely entirely upon the rule of authority. Since science admits that there are things that are not yet understood and which may never be understood, while the answer to all questions in religions is that it's all god's fault, religion obviously has the greater authority.
So how can rational people deal with the "the bible says it, I believe it, end of story" crowd? Simple. When they get sick, encourage them to go with faith-based interventions. Talk them out of medical solutions and into prayer groups. If we can't outbreed 'em, let's outlive them.
