There's much more to this than mere Christian fundamentalism.

I would also include those followers of Islam & Judaism and other religions who feel that they have to force others to believe what they do, based on literal interpretaions of holy scripture to the exclusion of what we have learned *since* the late stone age.

Funny how most of the "troublesome" religions came out of the middle east. The eastern religions seem to be much more flexible, in general.

I suspect this topic is heading rapidly into moebius territory. In a vain attempt to bring it back quickly, I'd point to Galileo and Giordano Bruno's experiences with an intolerant orthodoxy which felt that discovery of how space works was a threat to their monopoly on theological philosophy.

What does the future hold? Is our current era a brief aberration in Earth's history and will we return to the flat earth, either through religious orthodoxy or through lotus-eating and new-age navel gazing?

Science (and mathematics) enrollments in senior schools and universities are hugely down, even if you count IT as "science". Kids these days aren't inspired towards a career in science.

Why? Many ideas, but how to turn the trend - nobody knows...