Following up an earlier poll of Americans' belief in the supernatural, here's another.
LOS ANGELES -- An overwhelming majority of Americans continue to believe that there is life after death and that heaven and hell exist, according to a new study. What's more, nearly two-thirds think they are heaven-bound.There's a bunch of stuff in there about what people believe Heaven and Hell are like, but what's interesting to me are the contradictions that the poll found.On the other hand, only one-half of 1% said they were hell-bound, according to a national poll by the Oxnard-based Barna Research Group, an independent marketing research firm that has tracked trends related to beliefs, values and behaviors since 1984.
"Americans don't mind embracing contradictions," he said. "It's hyper individualism. They're cutting and pasting religious views from a variety of different sources — television, movies, conversations with their friends. Rather than simply embrace one particular viewpoint, and then trying to follow all the specific precepts or teachings of that particular viewpoint, what Americans are saying is, 'Listen, I can probably put together a philosophy of life for myself that is just as accurate, just as helpful as any particular faith might provide.' "That is... most people are just flailing around in the dark, without any substantial confidence when it comes to what may (or may not!) be the most crucial question of existence.Pollster George Barna, a former minister who founded the research group, noted that one out of 10 born-again Christians — those who believe entry into heaven is solely based on confession of sins and faith in Jesus Christ — also believe in reincarnation, which violates Christian tenets. Nearly one in three claim it is possible to communicate with the dead, and half believe a person can earn salvation based on good deeds even without accepting Christ as the way to eternal life.
Many who describe themselves as either atheistic or agnostic also harbor contradictions in their thinking, Barna said. He said that half the atheists and agnostics surveyed believed that everyone had a soul, that heaven and hell existed and that there was life after death. One in eight atheists and agonistics believe that accepting Jesus Christ as savior probably makes life after death possible.
(Found via Drudge.)
Everyone is failing around in the dark - or what, am I to believe that any "organized" religion doesn't contain any contradictions? Some of the "contradictions" listed here don't really seem to be contradictions to me, such as the belief in reincarnation (of course, that depends on what you believe was or wasn't in the bible, when it was written, etc). Belief by atheists that people have a soul doesn't seem like a contradiction either, but the parts about belief in heaven and hell or accepting christ, for atheists, is comical.
I believe that 67% percent of the people believe I am going to Hell.
i found these to excerpts interesting. it's amazing how many people make up in their minds about what feels good and don't have an ultimate Authority.
"Flailing around in the dark" in the sense that many people do not have concrete beliefs, and don't relaly try very hard to figure it all out.
I understand, but, I don't care how hard you try. I imagine that while individuals feel their beliefs or actions seem directed or purposeful or "consistent" (regardless of how hard they work at it), to the impartial observer (god? definitely not a person) everyone trying to know the unknowable looks like they're flailing around in the dark. I think this is just another example of the power of cognitive dissonance; every religious or non-religious person seems pretty inconsistent to me. Though I'm real biased against the former.
The questions for me involve truth, and goodness.
All religions, and philosophies, essentially assume that the "truth is good". This clearly cannot be proven.
And what if it is not true? I believe in goodness, and that usually the truth is good. But a not-quite truth which leads more people to act in a good manner is better than a more-true factoid which leads more folks to act in a bad manner.