Pew Forum - Survey on Religious Beliefs - just published
  Home FAQ Contact Sign in
alt.philosophy only
 
Advanced search
POPULAR GROUPS

more...

alt.philosophy Profile…
 Up
Pew Forum - Survey on Religious Beliefs - just published         


Author: needles
Date: Jun 28, 2008 15:14

*Source Quoted*
http://religions.pewforum.org/maps

Just published this week is a survey from Pew on religious
beliefs. Now I know that the way the question is asked
makes a big difference in the outcome, but I cannot find the
exact wording of the question here. It seems to have been
something like this: "As to belief in God or a Universal
Spirit, are you (a) absolutely certain, (b) fairly certain,
(c) not too certain, (d) don't believe at all; (e) don't know."

Mississippi had the highest percentage of "absolutely
certain" believers - 91%%, with Vermont and New Hampshire
together the lowest at 54%%, followed closely by Connecticut
and Rhode Island at 57%%.

But what bothered me is these people say they are
"absolutely certain", with another 22%% "fairly certain" in
New England and 7%% in Mississippi (for a grand total there
of 98%%). Wow!
Show full article (1.12Kb)
4 Comments
Re: Pew Forum - Survey on Religious Beliefs - just published         


Author: Immortalist
Date: Jun 28, 2008 21:38

On Jun 28, 3:14 pm, "needles" bresnan.net> wrote:
> *Source Quoted*
> http://religions.pewforum.org/maps
>
>
> Any thoughts about these high %%s about belief?

My thoughts have been the same for quite a while. We are driven to
chose between the costs of false-positive and false-negative errors, I
should say we are biased if rational thought doesn't intervene. Some
surveys show that the more educated people are the more skeptical they
are of dogmas. Buss believes this came about because of "quirks" like
if someone sees an "s" shape on the ground, those who decided to walk
around without confirming it was a snake, came to dominate the gene
pool. Some choices "feel" better. This has nothing to say about
whether there is or is not a God and all that. Pascal's Wager is a
perfect example, for starters;
Show full article (4.39Kb)
no comments
Re: Pew Forum - Survey on Religious Beliefs - just published         


Author: ZerkonX
Date: Jun 29, 2008 04:28

On Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:14:32 -0600, needles wrote:
> Any thoughts about these high %%s about belief?

I would need to see how many did not respond to this survey.
no comments
Re: Pew Forum - Survey on Religious Beliefs - just published         


Author: tg
Date: Jun 29, 2008 05:05

On Jun 28, 6:14 pm, "needles" bresnan.net> wrote:
> *Source Quoted*
>  http://religions.pewforum.org/maps
>
> Just published this week is a survey from Pew on religious
> beliefs.  Now I know that the way the question is asked
> makes a big difference in the outcome, but I cannot find the
> exact wording of the question here.  It seems to have been
> something like this: "As to belief in God or a Universal
> Spirit, are you (a) absolutely certain, (b) fairly certain,
> (c) not too certain, (d) don't believe at all; (e) don't know."
>
> Mississippi had the highest percentage of "absolutely
> certain" believers - 91%%, with Vermont and New Hampshire
> together the lowest at 54%%, followed closely by Connecticut
> and Rhode Island at 57%%.
>
> But what bothered me is these people say they are
> "absolutely certain", with another 22%% "fairly certain" in
> New England and 7%% in Mississippi (for a grand total there ...
Show full article (1.86Kb)
no comments
Re: Pew Forum - Survey on Religious Beliefs - just published         


Author: zinnic
Date: Jun 29, 2008 07:40

On Jun 28, 5:14 pm, "needles" bresnan.net> wrote:
> *Source Quoted*
>  http://religions.pewforum.org/maps
>
> Just published this week is a survey from Pew on religious
> beliefs.  Now I know that the way the question is asked
> makes a big difference in the outcome, but I cannot find the
> exact wording of the question here.  It seems to have been
> something like this: "As to belief in God or a Universal
> Spirit, are you (a) absolutely certain, (b) fairly certain,
> (c) not too certain, (d) don't believe at all; (e) don't know."
>
> Mississippi had the highest percentage of "absolutely
> certain" believers - 91%%, with Vermont and New Hampshire
> together the lowest at 54%%, followed closely by Connecticut
> and Rhode Island at 57%%.
>
> But what bothered me is these people say they are
> "absolutely certain", with another 22%% "fairly certain" in
> New England and 7%% in Mississippi (for a grand total there ...
Show full article (1.79Kb)
no comments