In essence, religion was a way of life that was more traditionally conservative compared to the scientific, novel view of the world which challenged it. The theory of evolution kicked off the beginning of the scientific age in America. Charles Darwin, an English naturalist, formulated the well-known Theory of Evolution. Though many at the time believed that all living beings came into the world in the very beginning, Darwin proved them wrong. Over several billions of years, organisms changed: to adapt to their environment, pass on favorable characteristics, among other reasons. Science challenged the literal word of the Bible, in this case, creationism. While religion provided hope for many, science threatened to tear that hope down. Liberalists believed that science was the only thing that could possibly explain what God had accomplished. However, religion had the potential to explain everything except how God was created. Because of this, many believed the fundamentalists were stupid, and that no intelligent Christian would believe in the teachings of the Bible. Surprisingly, many scientists were religious, and many religious people believed in scientific concepts as well. Religion was even woven with politics in presidential election speeches. All in all, the conflict between religion and science throughout American history could be simplified, so to speak, into one between the worlds of the old and new.
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