Also, religion has these people by the balls. That angers them because they see people that don't waste their time praying and worshipping, and they're pissed that their god isn't cursing their every breath.
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' -Isaac Asimov-