Results 1 to 17 of 17

Thread: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

  1. #1
    Master of the Horse Senior Member Pindar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    The base of Yggdrasil
    Posts
    3,710

    Default U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    Hopefully this will work. This should link to an April 05 Poll conducted by Newsweek. I thought others may be interested.

    Poll

    "We are lovers of beauty without extravagance and of learning without loss of vigor." -Thucydides

    "The secret of Happiness is Freedom, and the secret of Freedom, Courage." -Thucydides

  2. #2
    Senior Member Senior Member Ser Clegane's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Escaped from the pagodas
    Posts
    6,606

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    The link works for me

  3. #3
    Narcissist Member Zalmoxis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    On a cloud
    Posts
    1,584

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    Me too.

    On a side note... 200 posts.
    "Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite." - John Kenneth Galbraith

  4. #4
    A very, very Senior Member Adrian II's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    9,748

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    Quote Originally Posted by Pindar
    This should link to an April 05 Poll conducted by Newsweek. I thought others may be interested. Poll
    It works fine, though its purpose eludes me. What are we to make of a poll that is not representative of any statistical population except the total number of people who clicked that button at the bottom? I don't know what this poll says about Americans because I would not know what it says about me. Maybe we should enlist Gawain's expert help.

    Regarding the very first question, I do not understand what the difference between religous and spiritual is supposed to be. The Encarta entry for the adjective 'spiritual' sums up four possible meanings, of which 1. (of soul: relating to the soul or spirit, usually in contrast to material things, and 4. (refined: showing great refinement and concern with the higher things in life) somehow appeal to me. The latter would definitely be on the mark, I suppose, in light of my recent post about Kilimanjaro in the global warming thread.

    I don't know -- Pindar, would you describe me as 'non-religous, yet spiritual' in a loose, Newsweeky sort of way? Tell me, where do I stand?
    Last edited by Adrian II; 08-31-2005 at 11:06. Reason: Refinement
    The bloody trouble is we are only alive when we’re half dead trying to get a paragraph right. - Paul Scott

  5. #5
    Member Member Spetulhu's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    818

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    Quote Originally Posted by AdrianII
    What are we to make of a poll that is not representative of any statistical population except the total number of people who clicked that button at the bottom? I don't know what this poll says about Americans because I would not know what it says about me.
    Hey, anyone can vote! They don't even know how many of the votes are made by the people supposedly polled!
    If you're fighting fair you've made a miscalculation.

  6. #6
    A very, very Senior Member Adrian II's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    9,748

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    Quote Originally Posted by Spetulhu
    Hey, anyone can vote! They don't even know how many of the votes are made by the people supposedly polled!
    As a matter of fact, the Newsweek poll seems to have been combined with a poll on Beliefnet. Has anyone heard of Beliefnet before? I have not. After negotiating offers of an Amy Grant ringtone on my mobile phone, a South Beach diet that helped 'Mindy lose 75 pounds' and a Dermastep Anti-Wrinkle Formula, I finally happened upon their webpage which contains eye-opening columns such as 'Nobody deserves lung cancer'. Spirituality according to Beliefnet comes in the form of an interview with the ebullient actress Goldie Hawn who tells us how the atomic bomb brought her into contact with God.

    They also have a poll on the supposed intimacy of God and Katrina in which 49% of voters think Katrina is sent by God as a punishment, as a test, or with some unknown purpose. The other half don't buy this crap. Hey hey, I think I know where I stand after all.
    The bloody trouble is we are only alive when we’re half dead trying to get a paragraph right. - Paul Scott

  7. #7
    Member Member bmolsson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Jakarta, Indonesia
    Posts
    3,029

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    Seems to confirm US as a religious and conservative state......

  8. #8
    A very, very Senior Member Adrian II's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    9,748

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    Quote Originally Posted by bmolsson
    Seems to confirm US as a religious and conservative state......
    It merely confirms that the majority of the voters in that poll are religious. One-third are not religous, though. And it tells us little about their politics, or about those of the rest of the country. Or does it?
    The bloody trouble is we are only alive when we’re half dead trying to get a paragraph right. - Paul Scott

  9. #9
    Humanist Senior Member A.Saturnus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Aachen
    Posts
    5,181

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    I had similar problems with the poll. I´m an atheist and a filthy reductionist, does that mean I can´t be spiritual?

  10. #10
    Master of Few Words Senior Member KukriKhan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2001
    Posts
    10,415

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    Quote Originally Posted by A.Saturnus
    I had similar problems with the poll. I´m an atheist and a filthy reductionist, does that mean I can´t be spiritual?
    Not 'til you wash your hands. :)
    Be well. Do good. Keep in touch.

  11. #11
    Mad Professor Senior Member Hurin_Rules's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Alberta and Toronto, Canada
    Posts
    2,433

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    Interesting, but very unscientific.

    How is an atheist/agnostic like me supposed to answer the question, 'what is the most important purpose of prayer?' 'None of these/other' doesn't really seem to cut it.

    I do find it interesting that even on a poll like this, which would seem to be geared more for 'believers', Atheists/agnostics make up 15%. We're even ahead of Catholics. I wonder, is the situation the same in America as it is in Canada? Atheists/agnostics being the fastest growing major religious/non-religious group?
    "I love this fellow God. He's so deliciously evil." --Stuart Griffin

  12. #12
    "'elp! I'm bein' repressed!" Senior Member Aenlic's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    The live music capital of the world.
    Posts
    1,583

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    Well look at who sponsored the poll and your question is answered.

    Newsweek/Beliefnet

    Slanted questions to support a particular view? Never happens.
    "Dee dee dee!" - Annoymous (the "differently challenged" and much funnier twin of Anonymous)

  13. #13
    Master of the Horse Senior Member Pindar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    The base of Yggdrasil
    Posts
    3,710

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    Quote Originally Posted by AdrianII
    It works fine, though its purpose eludes me.
    The purpose was to entertain.

    Regarding the very first question, I do not understand what the difference between religous and spiritual is supposed to be.

    In the States when people parse the two, the division is typically between organized devotion and personal notions of some transcendent reality. Thus, a devout Catholic would be seen as religious and a New Age advocate might describe themselves as spiritual only.



    I don't know -- Pindar, would you describe me as 'non-religous, yet spiritual' in a loose, Newsweeky sort of way? Tell me, where do I stand?
    No

    "We are lovers of beauty without extravagance and of learning without loss of vigor." -Thucydides

    "The secret of Happiness is Freedom, and the secret of Freedom, Courage." -Thucydides

  14. #14
    Scruffy Looking Nerf Herder Member Steppe Merc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    New Jersey, USA
    Posts
    7,907

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    Can I not answer some of the polls? I've never been married, so how can I say what religon my partner is?

    "But if you should fall you fall alone,
    If you should stand then who's to guide you?
    If I knew the way I would take you home."
    Grateful Dead, "Ripple"

  15. #15

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    ::Nelson Munz voice::

    Beliefnet? Ha-ha.

    Might as well conduct the poll in the church since the questions have a religious incline.

    Here's a recent poll at TWC: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=29830

    There's also a recent poll here at the ORG:

    https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=53199

  16. #16
    Member Member bmolsson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Jakarta, Indonesia
    Posts
    3,029

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    Quote Originally Posted by AdrianII
    And it tells us little about their politics, or about those of the rest of the country. Or does it?
    Religion is a part of US politics, like it or not...... And I think I should use the word "indicate" rather than confirm.....

  17. #17
    Altogether quite not there! Member GodsPetMonkey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    839

    Default Re: U.S. Faith Poll (Newsweek)

    Quote Originally Posted by AdrianII
    Spirituality according to Beliefnet comes in the form of an interview with the ebullient actress Goldie Hawn who tells us how the atomic bomb brought her into contact with God.

    They also have a poll on the supposed intimacy of God and Katrina in which 49% of voters think Katrina is sent by God as a punishment, as a test, or with some unknown purpose. The other half don't buy this crap. Hey hey, I think I know where I stand after all.
    Forget Katrina, Goldie Hawn is quite clearly a herald of the anti-Christ. No mere mortal gets to live that long with out turning to dust

    Regardless, any site where nearly 50% of the readers think a nasty hurricane (even one as nasty as this) is punishment from God/sign of the apocalypse is not what I would consider targeting a rational audience.
    Caligula and Hadrian - Unit and Building editors for Rome: Total War.
    Now editing -
    export_descr_unit.txt, export_descr_unit_enums.txt, export_units.txt, descr_model_battle.txt
    export_descr_buildings.txt, export_descr_buildings_enums.txt, export_buildings.txt

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Single Sign On provided by vBSSO