What I don't understand is how much some biblical literalists have invested in the literal view. It's loopy at times.
"What I don't understand is how much some biblical literalists have invested in the literal view. "
Well, it's one of the foundations of their statement of belief. In some ways, it's the reason these denominations have split off and formed in the first place.
I don't know what the percentage of those who profess Christianity are bible literalists. I suppose there are numbers out there. I'm pretty sure, though, that they represent a small minority of Christians overall.
Lots of the smaller denominations have particular doctrinal issues they take to be very important. Indeed, in some cases, a single doctrinal issue is the only thing that distinguishes many small denominations.
What I find interesting is that the bible literalists often malign the larger majority of Christian denominations as not really Christian. The larger majority, however, does not deny the Christianity of the smaller groups.
Exclusivity, to me, is the least attractive feature of these literalist denominations. It seems to me that Jesus was not interested in exclusivity in his teachings.