A gem from the comments

PZ says:

Of course, we also were in competition with our enemy, the Soviets, and we raced to show that we were more technologically advanced and more scientific than they were. Now the enemy is Islam, and we seem to be in a competition to see who can be more theologically primitive and barbaric.

There once was a time when our war
was with Soviets, keen to explore
the technology race
both on earth and in space,
so our science had funding galore.

Islam is the enemy now
and we seem to be seeking for how
to be more theologically
crude—pathologically
playing "more fundie than thou."