There is a particularly strong connection between the revival of antievolutionism since 1980 and the political attack on separation of church and sta… - Susan Jacoby

Fanatics throughout history have always been convinced of the virtuousness of their visions.

Throughout their presidencies, Jefferson and his successor, Madison, never ceased to uphold the separation of church and state they had conceived as a model for the new nation.

But the late-nineteenth-century advances in both scientific understanding and applied technology posed a particularly formidable challenge to orthodox religion because, taken together, they offered a logical explanation of processes once thought to be inexplicable curses or miracles. As understanding of natural causes expanded, the need for supernatural explanations decreased.