Partly ignorance, and partly misinformation and superstition promulgated by certain religious sects, who worry that if they depart from Biblical literalism, people will start questioning other things.
Wow, you know you just insulted almost your entire country? It is self-serving, uninformed, unintellectual, and ignorant statements such as yours used as a response to a question they can't sufficiently answer or say, hey, maybe it wasn't discarded. Nope, it's easier to insult, condescend, and pretend that we are a bunch of whackos as that maintains your self-esteem and requires no responsibility to have faith. And, dear professor (doubt the right wing entirely), you know as well as anyone how transparent your statement about people questioning other things so they believe in the literal truth of the bible. Kind of backard thinking, huh prof? Isn't it those people who shun people of faith because they are afraid that faith and consequence are real and they don't want to give up their pleasure-driven lifestyles, you know, the other things that would be questioned. I had a little respect for you, now gone. It's like when you talk to a liberal and they get caught in the corner and all they can do is scratch and bite in defense. They've lost all reason and ability to clearly think and strategize.