I ask what Americans believe because it reflects directly on what the chances are that they will make sensible, practical decisions about things like global warming, whether we are running out of oil, who should be President, etc…
I had a mechanic tell me not to worry about oil shortages because God would make more. He had to since the mechanic was a religious man and God would never let him down.
I kid you not, that really happened. I never trusted my car to him again since he might easily decide God wanted me dead or that God would heal my leaking fuel line.
June 1, 2012, a Gallup poll shows that 46% of Americans believe that god created humans within the last 10,000 years.
Most of those holding that belief had some college or less education.
Considering the tenants of many religions, I wonder about the vast number of people shown on TV who can’t seem to stop exclaiming “Oh my God!” when the slightest thing out of the ordinary happens. If they believe in God sn’t that blasphemy?
June 16, 2005 most believe in paranormal.
“A recent Gallup survey shows that just about three in four Americans hold some paranormal belief – in at least one of the following: extra sensory perception (ESP), haunted houses, ghosts, mental telepathy, clairvoyance, astrology..”
Apparently a large part of the audience thought the X-Files was a reality show.
I recall a Sci-Fi channel show which ran for a year or more where the host claimed to communicate with the dead. That is called necromancy and is frowned on by most religions other than practitioners of black magic, yet many, many people believed what he told them. (Frowned upon is a mild way of expressing it since the usual punishment for such belief in Europe was burning at the stake.)
Cloud computing affected by weather.
“The survey of more than 1,000 American adults was conducted in August 2012 by Wakefield Research and shows that while the cloud is widely used, it is still misunderstood. For example, 51 percent of respondents, including a majority of Millennial, believe stormy weather can interfere with cloud computing. Nearly one third see the cloud as a thing of the future, yet 97 percent are actually using cloud services today via online shopping, banking, social networking and file sharing. Despite this confusion, three in five (59 percent) believe the “workplace of the future” will exist entirely in the cloud, which indicates people feel it’s time to figure out the cloud or risk being left behind in their professional lives.”
50% of Americans believe they have an actual guardian angle while 20% have heard God speak directly to them.
“Half of all Americans believe they are protected by guardian angels, one-fifth say they’ve heard God speak to them, one-quarter say they have witnessed miraculous healings, 16 percent say they’ve received one and 8 percent say they pray in tongues, according to a survey released Thursday by Baylor University.
The wide-ranging survey of 1,648 adults, who were asked 350 questions on their religious practices last fall, reveals a significant majority who are comfortable with the supernatural.
“Mystical experiences are widespread,” said Rodney Stark, co-director of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.”
I take no public position one way or another on any religion, but, given those numbers cited above you have to wonder just why anyone would attempt to be an honest journalist and waste time trying to explain facts and the consequences of decisions.
It can only be explained by faith.
