[Puppage]

But in the academic community, there is no controversy at all

We are talking about the ENTIRE COUNTRY here not a selective community, such as you describe. Which is why this topic is so volatile.

So, to throw in a "depends on how you define controversy" and equate a small groups "controversy" to the larger, more debated controversy of evolution/ID hardly seems germaine.

[Alter Kaker]

We are talking about the ENTIRE COUNTRY here not a selective community, such as you describe. Which is why this topic is so volatile.

Because not all communities are created equal. There may be a huge debate over the effectiveness of fertilizer in the screenwriting community, but farmers seem pretty convinced. And farmers are the ones whose opinions matter. Likewise for scientists here.