Subject: [SciPol 478] Re: God's Numbers

From: Lloyd Davidson <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2007 16:55:46 -0700

It's interesting that the numbers are just the reverse of this among 
Nobel Laureates and other recognized scientists.
http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/sci_relig.htm

L.
>God's Numbers
>
>The latest NEWSWEEK poll shows that 91 percent of American adults
>surveyed believe in God-and nearly half reject the theory of
>evolution. Also, Americans on John Edwards and the Senate's goal for
>troop withdrawal
>
>
>WEB EXCLUSIVE
>By Brian Braiker
>Newsweek
>Updated: 2:04 p.m. ET March 31, 2007
>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17879317/site/newsweek/
>
>
>March 30, 2007 - A belief in God and an identification with an
>organized religion are widespread throughout the country, according to
>the latest NEWSWEEK poll. Nine in 10 (91 percent) of American adults
>say they believe in God and almost as many (87 percent) say they
>identify with a specific religion. Christians far outnumber members of
>any other faith in the country, with 82 percent of the poll's
>respondents identifying themselves as such. Another 5 percent say they
>follow a non-Christian faith, such as Judaism or Islam. Nearly half
>(48 percent) of the public rejects the scientific theory of evolution;
>one-third (34 percent) of college graduates say they accept the
>Biblical account of creation as fact. Seventy-three percent of
>Evangelical Protestants say they believe that God created humans in
>their present form within the last 10,000 years; 39 percent of non-
>Evangelical Protestants and 41 percent of Catholics agree with that
>view.
>
>
>Although one in ten (10 percent) of Americans identify themselves as
>having "no religion," only six percent said they don't believe in a
>God at all. Just 3 percent of the public self-identifies as atheist,
>suggesting that the term may carry some stigma. Still, the poll
>suggests that the public's tolerance of this small minority has
>increased in recent years. Nearly half (47 percent) of the respondents
>felt the country is more accepting of atheists today that it used to
>be and slightly more (49 percent) reported personally knowing an
>atheist. Those numbers are higher among respondents under 30 years
>old, 62 percent of whom report knowing an atheist (compared to just 43
>percent of those 50 and older). Sixty-one percent of the under-30
>cohort view society as more accepting of atheists (compared to 40
>percent of the Americans 50 and older).
>
>NEWSWEEK Poll: March 31, 2007
>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17875540/site/newsweek/
>
>Still, it is unlikely that a political candidate would serve him or
>herself well by declaring their atheism. Six in ten (62 percent)
>registered voters say they would not vote for a candidate who is an
>atheist. Majorities of each major party - 78 percent of Repulicans and
>60 percent of Democrats - rule out such an option. Just under half (45
>percent) of registered independents would not vote for an atheist.
>Still more than a third (36 percent) of Americans think the influence
>of organized religion on American politics has increased in recent
>years. But the public is still split over whether religion has too
>much (32 percent) or too little (31 percent) influence on American
>politics. Democrats tend to fall in the "too much" camp (42 percent of
>them, as opposed to 29 percent who see too little influence) as
>Republicans take the opposite view (42 percent too little; 14 percent
>too much). In the poll, 68 percent of respondents said they believed
>someone could be moral and an atheist, compared to 26 percent who said
>it was not possible.
>
>The NEWSWEEK poll also asked respondents about recent developments in
>national politics. This week the Senate joined the U.S. House of
>Representatives in passing legislation along party lines that included
>a "goal" for troop withdrawal by next March. A majority (57 percent)
>of Americans support the legislation. The president's approval ratings
>remain at just 33 percent, up just three points from his all-time low
>in the NEWSWEEK poll http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17435176/site/newsweek/
>earlier this month. Two-thirds (66 percent) of the respondents were
>dissatisfied with the direction the country is headed in and Bush's
>rating for his handling of the war in Iraq (28 percent) continues to
>be lower than his handling of terrorism (45 percent) and the economy
>(41 percent).
>
>Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, who recently announced
>that his wife's cancer has returned, is a popular figure, with 41
>percent of Americans saying they have a generally favorable view of
>him (27 percent have an unfavorable view). And most (56 percent) think
>the former senator should remain in the race despite his wife's
>medical situation. Very few (12 percent) suspect that he is using
>Elizabeth's illness to his political advantage. Seventy-two percent
>feel that staying in the race was something the Edwards family
>genuinely saw as the right thing to do and half (51 percent) think it
>will put Edwards more in touch with the concerns of average Americans
>(41 percent don't). Indeed, just 11 percent of Americans think his
>wife's health would be enough of a distraction to keep Edwards from
>his duties were he to be elected next year (64 percent think her
>illness would be at least "somewhat" distracting).
>
>
>
>The poll also found limited voter demand for former Vice President Al
>Gore to toss his hat into the ring. Despite a spate of publicity
>around his involvement in the Academy Award-winning documentary "An
>Inconvenient Truth," only a third (33 percent) of registered voters
>want to see him run again while a majority (56 percent) would not.
>Still, about half (49 percent) say there is at least some chance they
>would vote for Gore if he were on the ballot next year (a quarter, 24
>percent, say there would be a "good chance" he would get their vote).
>Nearly half of registered Democrats (47 percent) want him to run, 39
>percent do not and 14 percent are undecided.
>
>The NEWSWEEK Poll, conducted March 28-March 29, has a margin of error
>of plus or minus 4 percentage points for questions based on all
>registered voters and plus or minus 6 percentage points for results
>based on registered Republicans and Republican leaners. In conducting
>the poll, Princeton Survey Research Associates International
>interviewed 1,004 adults aged 18 and older.
>
>
>
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-- 
Lloyd Davidson, Ph.D.
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---

From: "Dan Agin" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2007 19:13:18 -0500

These are puzzling numbers. Three percent of the adult population 
(children are probably not calling themselves atheists or responding 
to surveys like this) is about 4.5 million atheists, and these are in 
contact with 73.5 million non-atheist adults -- which means on 
average each atheist has personally told 16 non-atheist people he or 
she is an atheist. Is it realistic? I don't think so. Without knowing 
any more, my guess is the results of this survey were skewed by the 
exact questions and circumstances of the interviews and are 
unreliable as sociological data. I look forward to being enlightened.

Yours in discourse,
Dan Agin

On 4 Apr 2007 at 16:55, Lloyd Davidson wrote:

> Just 3 percent of the public self-identifies as atheist,
> >suggesting that the term may carry some stigma. Still, the poll suggests
> >that the public's tolerance of this small minority has increased in
> >recent years. Nearly half (47 percent) of the respondents felt the
> >country is more accepting of atheists today that it used to be and
> >slightly more (49 percent) reported personally knowing an atheist. Those
> >numbers are higher among respondents under 30 years old, 62 percent of
> >whom report knowing an atheist (compared to just 43 percent of those 50
> >and older).

---

From: "Dr CAS" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2007 23:22:26 -0700

I find these numbers surprising (coming from a country which is
largely atheist or agnostic as I do). The trouble is phrases like
'Identify with a religion' are vague. We would really need to see the
exact questionnaire to see what slant was put on it. I wouldn't go as
far as to rubbish surveys in general, though, in skilled unbias hands
they can be a powerful tool. I also have never considered Americans to
be particularly religious, though their politicians seem keen to paint
a different picture. Where was the 'open-minded' category in all of
this? If you are going to artificially divide people into 'atheist'
and 'religious' then it depends where you draw the line, that's all.
Many people entertain the possibility of God one day, believe in the
concept of God on the next, then refute the concept on another day -
many people are undecided. Afterall, is it not natural to be undecided
in the face of a total lack of evidence either way? Also many people
believe in 'something' which is not necessarily 'God' as defined by
Evangelists. All such surveys are meaningless unless they define the
terms in question. Many believe in Mother Nature or Pantheism or a
'Greater Something' and they may also relate to Christianity as they
know no other ideology. I may introspect at Christmas-time, but does
that make me a Christian? Also, there is some truth in Christianity
you know, the trouble is sorting the wheat from the chaff, to coin a
phrase! What one 'Christian' believes is often very different to what
the next one believes. Personally I find it dodgy that anyone can
define themselves as 'Chrsitian' because I would have thought that it
was upto God to decide who is of the true faith!

On Mar 31, 11:10 pm, "MsRedSonya" <[email-masked]> wrote:
> Updated: 2:04 p.m. ET March 31, 2007http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17879317/site/newsweek/
>
> NEWSWEEK Poll: March 31, 2007http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17875540/site/newsweek/
>
> in the NEWSWEEK pollhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17435176/site/newsweek/
> Sonya mail to: <[email-masked]>
> PLoS Medicinehttp://www.plosmedicine.org
> educational purposes and in regard to fair usehttp://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.
>
> Furthermore, as the