Over two-thirds of Republicans believe in demonic possession. WTF?

According to a study written about in Salon, 68% of Republicans believe in demonic possession. Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana, even participated in an exorcism. Yeah. He was on Romney’s short list for VP.

What the hell is going on here? How can people with power believe this stuff? Maybe their belief doesn’t mean anything? Maybe it’s like believing in God—it doesn’t actually change the way you behave in the real world?

Or could this be dangerous? Is it a skepticism about science that makes them unable to see the reality in the world?