Jason Rosenhouse has a good rant on the Evolutionblog
The real problem is that if you did a poll in which you asked people whether discussing the second law of thermodynamics versus the theory of evolution indicates that the former is on solid evidential ground whereas the latter is not, I think you would have upwards of 70% of the people answering yes. And that idea is so jaw-droppingly pig-ignorant that it pretty much defies response. How is it that so many people can reach adulthood holding such delusional views about science?
Is hostility towards evolution caused by a few insensitive remarks by people like Dawkins and Dennett? Or is it caused by having a large segment of the population that doesn’t know anything about science? You make the call.
How about both? Ignorant people tend to react defensively when their noses are rubbed into it. Voluntarily ignorant people (like those who take the Bible literally) can be downright nasty.
Where it gets downright strange is in a field (like say – paranormal studies) where you have a large segment of passionate believers who condemn science as being ineffectual or fraudulent. In such cases any claim can be proven by a passionate testimony and becomes cannon when enough people swallow the cool-aid. The moment science caves in to this kind of thinking it becomes faith/religion. The study of the paranormal is stuck exactly because people will not open their minds and truly inquire.