Science and religion present two paradoxes in the United States. On the one hand, the U.S. is the undisputed world leader in science. Yet, the U.S. is also the wealthy industrialized country with the most widespread skepticism about science, most notably regarding climate change, vaccines, and evolution.1, 2, 3 How can those two seemingly incompatible facts be reconciled?
The other paradox is that both in the U.S. and in Europe, people’s adherence to religion has an average tendency to decrease with their income and with their educational level.4, 5, 6 Yet the U.S. is the most religious wealthy industrialized nation, despite its high average per-person income and educational level.7 How can those two seemingly incompatible facts be reconciled?