What the Hudson Valley thinks: Science -vs- Religion?

A surprising new survey shows that religion narrowly beats out science when it comes to people's belief of the origins of the universe.

The Associated Press just published a poll that asked Americans what they think about established scientific facts.  The results were somewhat surprising, and alarming to the scientific community.  While only 4 percent of people have doubts that there is a link between smoking and cancer, more than 15 percent are still skeptical about the safety of vaccines.

4 in 10 Americans surveyed said they were not too confident or just disbelieved that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old. The same amount of people were also skeptical of evolution.  However, the results that have upset the science community the most is that a whopping 51 percent of Americans question the Big Bang.  The origin of our universe is a proven scientific fact, not a theory. Most religions even say that the Big Bang is quite compatible with the belief in the existence of God.  However, some bible literalists have taken issue with science on this point because they say it conflicts with the book of Genesis.

Here's famed astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, explaining how science has proven the Big Bang and that it's no longer just a "theory":

So why do more than half of us still doubt the Big Bang?  Well, the survey shows that politics and religion play a major role in America, with mostly conservative Republicans and those classifying themselves as religious taking issue with science.  2013 Nobel Prize winner Randy Schekman says about the poll:

“Science ignorance is pervasive in our society, and these attitudes are reinforced when some of our leaders are openly antagonistic to established facts,”

So we're wondering what the Hudson Valley thinks about all of this.  Are we split the same way the rest of the country is on science and religion?  Answer the poll below and let us know your thoughts on The Big Bang Theory: