Why so much hatred of science?

Like it or not, there is a war on science active in politics today. It’s a powerful part of Republican politics in the USA, partly driven by those who find it enormously profitable to pollute and who wish to deny the consequences; and partly by the religious right. Christian fundamentalist and abortion clinic bomber John Brockhoeft wrote, “I’m a very narrow-minded, intolerant, reactionary Bible-thumping fundamentalist… a zealot and fanatic… The reason the United States was once a great nation, besides being blessed by God, is because she was founded on truth, justice and narrowmindedness sic.” Of course, the USA was really founded by men of the Age of Reason trying to escape religious narrow-mindedness, but when ideology trumps fact, truth is determined only by what ones wants to believe.

Anti-science sentiment is even more prevalent among the fundamentalists in predominantly Muslim nations. Far-right sentiments are also growing in Europe, and are widely held in Russia and the former Soviet Block countries. With all science has done to improve human life, why such hatred of it?