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Title: Americans believe in God -- and hell, UFOs, witches, astrology: poll (and miracles - we could use one)
Source:
Raw Story
URL Source: http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Americ ... n_God_and_hell_U_12042007.html
Published: Dec 4, 2007
Author: AFP
Post Date: 2007-12-04 17:15:46 by robin
Keywords: None
Views: 1462
Comments: 110
An overwhelming majority of Americans believe in God and signicant numbers also think that UFOs, the devil and ghosts exist, a poll showed Tuesday. The survey by Harris Online showed that 82 percent of adult Americans believe in God and a slightly smaller percentage -- 79 percent -- believe in miracles. More than 70 percent of the 2,455 adults surveyed between November 7 and 13 said they believe in heaven and angels, while more than six in 10 said they believed in hell and the devil. Almost equal numbers said they believe in Darwin's theory of evolution (42 percent) -- the belief that populations evolve over time through natural selection -- and creationism (39 percent) -- the theory that God created mankind. Seventy percent of Americans said they were very (21 percent) or somewhat (49 percent) religious, while around one-third of those polled also said they believe in UFOs, witches and astrology.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 91.
#21. To: robin, Alan Chapman, TwentyTwelve, all (#0)
I am short on time at the moment so I don't have time for a detailed deconstruction but note the following: By conflating all of these together it is an assertion of equivalence i.e., that UFOs=Witches=Astrology. When you see that kind of false reasoning you can know that the author is dishonest or is working PsyOps. Which of those has a substantial body of objective evidence and credible witnesses? UFOs. Which of those has the government consistently attacked via derision and their various operatives such as Michael Schermer? UFOs. Why? Because it is a world view shifting datum which holds the potential to upset the 1984 society that is being built. The "Septics" Society and others of their ilk, such as the less than amazing Randi, have over and over again been shown to lie, use strawmen, and character assassination to advance their agenda of defending the official paradigm.
There isn't a shred of evidence of visitation by aliens in flying saucers. Even with the proliferation of billions of cameras, camera phones, and video cameras there still isn't any compelling evidence. All of those old b/w photos of flying saucers are nothing but people tossing pie pans and hub caps into the air. Witnesses are always referred to as credible. They're often unsure of what they've seen. Many have conflicting testimony. Michael Shermer is a government operative? That's laughable. He and Randi have done outstanding work exposing charlatans and quacks. I especially like the way Randi exposed Uri Geller, Peter Popoff, and James Hydrick (who later confessed to being a fraud).
In fact Alan, take a peek at post 22 while you're at it...
On June 24, 1947, Kenneth Arnold claimed that he'd seen nine "crescent shaped" aircraft near Mount Rainier. He said they reminded him of saucers skimming over water. An editor of the Eastern Oregonian reported that Arnold saw "round" objects. Other reports noted "disc-shaped" objects. Within a few weeks, there were hundreds of reports nationwide of sightings of flying "saucers." It's interesting how sightings become contagious. The U.S. military built and tested many flying wings during the 1940s. Here's the Northrop N-1M. It's maiden flight was in 1941. The Germans also built flying wings. Where do people know about flying saucers? Why were there a bunch of flying saucer and alien invasion movies made in the 1950s? Science-fiction magazines from the 1920s: Orson Welles' 1938 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds
Let me guess, you're going to try to tell me these are migrating birds, right?
Birds are precisely what those are, and birds are probably what the folks in Farmington saw. The behavior they witnessed perfectly describes bird behavior.
Birds are precisely what those are Hmmm, round birds without wings that glow and dart around at approximately 10,000 feet. Yep. , and birds are probably what the folks in Farmington saw. The behavior they witnessed perfectly describes bird behavior. According to witnesses, the saucer shaped objects moved at 1000 mph and in right angles, with several apparently engaged in what seemed like a "dog fight". Yeah, birds. Uh huh.
You can tell the altitude of those birds just from watching the video? They look round for several reasons. They're far away and each one takes up only a few pixels in the image. They blur and smear when he zooms in. If you understand the way digital compression works, adjacent pixels are averaged to give a smoother picture and reduce pixelation. It's called anti-aliasing. They're not perfectly spherical. If you look closely you can see that they have greater width than height. They didn't look to me like they were glowing. They looked white like seagulls. According to witnesses, the saucer shaped objects moved at 1000 mph and in right angles, with several apparently engaged in what seemed like a "dog fight". When viewed from the ground, birds may appear to be moving at high speed when passing in front of clouds. Move your hand quickly in front of your face while looking at something in the distance. Wow, your hand must've moved at thousands of miles per hour! Birds can make high speed turns which might look like right angles. They can also ascend very quickly when entering columns of warm air. I think the Farmington residents had too much to drink and took a little creative license when telling their story. You know, the one that got away is always ten times bigger in the imagination than it is in reality.
I think your head is up in the clouds. And I see you're resorting to the "they were drunk" comments. How original. Yeah, the whole town was cocked and thought they saw saucer shaped craft performing instantaneous 90 degree manuevers while flying at extremely high speeds, where it was really just a bunch of birds. I'm GW Bush, but don't tell anyone, as they might be drunk and think I'm Dick Cheney.
One of the things I've noticed about the hangers on of such as the "Septics" Society, PSICOP, and such is that they are totally unmoved by evidence. That's why I generally don't argue with them (although they are fun to needle by dissecting their illogic and pointing out how closed minded they are). Their mind is made up and they do not want to be confused by no steenking evidence. Regardless of the witness, or any other evidence produced, it is all dismissed preemptorily with a wave of the rhetorical hand, and done so without examination. After all they already know it does not and cannot exist and so there is no reason to make an objective examination of the MOUNTAINS of evidence. It might upset their digestion to be confronted with facts and observations that cannot be summarily dismissed. Of course to use the logic of the septics one could categorically deny the existence of atoms. After all you cannot see them and no one has ever photographed one. We have impact targets in particle accelerators but that is obviously faked since we all know that you cannot see them they therefore do not exist. As, I believe it was you, was commented earlier we live in an Island Galaxy that literally has billions of star systems and likely billions of habitable planets. To think we are alone and at the pinnacle of creation, living in splendid isolation the only inhabited planet in all of the macrocosmic all that has life and the conditions to support it requires a leap of faith greater than someone who finds evidences of the hand of creation in the great evolutionary jumps, which the septics cannot explain, which are evidenced in the known fossil record. As well one might point out that a military pilot that makes a public report of a UFO is subject to a 10,000 dollar fine and ten years in jail. Why would the government put forth such a regulation for something that does not exist? If they do not exist then the pilot must obviously be delusionally insane and should not be allowed anywhere near a high performance aircraft. Yet that is not the tack taken. Instead pilots are told to shut up and not talk about it under threats of draconian punishment. For something that does not exist?
Not mountains of facts and evidence. Just mountains of bullshit from people who see what they want to see. ... use the logic of the septics one could categorically deny the existence of atoms. After all you cannot see them and no one has ever photographed one. Do some Google searches. Radar clockings of craft moving as fast as 9,000 mph... No, not of craft. Only "something." Meteors have been observed entering the atmosphere at 10 miles/sec. Space craft (from Earth) can reach 5 miles/sec during re-entry. ...reports of classified crash recovery teams who exist to scoop up the remains of crashed "craft". Reports from whom, some caller on the Art Bell show?
Do meteors make 90 degree instanaeous turns, stop and hover, then take off at over 10,000 mph?
It's amazing how people can discern how fast something is traveling just by looking at it from enormous distances. They can just "tell" that it's traveling at 10K/mph. ["Hey Wilbur, how fast you reckon that there flyin' saucer is goin'? Uh, I'd say about 10K/mph, Dilbert."] If you know anything about physics then you know the unlikelihood of something making a 90 degree turn at high velocity. (unless they have inertial dampers installed, right?)
With our CURRENT understanding it's impossible. That's why craft that exhibit such flight characteristics are NOT made here in the US, or anywhere else on Earth, in this time reference at least..
With our CURRENT understanding it's impossible. That's why craft that exhibit such flight characteristics are NOT made here in the US, or anywhere else on Earth, in this time reference at least.. The problem one runs into in dealing with the septics is the hidden premise which they will never explicity state i.e., that the technology which we have at this time and place on Planet Earth is the most advanced technology in all of the universe, known and unknown, and that if it is beyond our technical capabilities then it is impossible and that it is inconceivable that any other civilization either exists or could be millions of years ahead of us in their mastery of physical universe principles. That our understanding of the universe is the most complete possible and than anything contrary to the currently accepted theories, which are radically different from the currently accepted theories of even 20 years ago, are the final word on the subject. This is of course highly contrary to the scientific method which, if practiced honestly, requires the theory to change to accomodate any new evidence and if the new evidence is in conflict with the theory then the theory must be changed, or rewritten, to accommodate the new evidence not the evidence thrown out, denied to exist, and the messenger gutted. Thus operating off this hidden, and unsupportable, premise it is easy for them to deny and dismiss any evidence that does not conform to their prejudices. It is not science it is faith in a mythology that they will not allow to be questioned.
Again we're back to the flat earthers and those that said it was impossible for men to fly. They are so short sighted that anything not yet done HAS to be impossible. It's a good thing that there are those that can think outside the box, otherwise we'd all still be living in caves. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." ~ Arthur C. Clarke I'm sure aircraft, computers, and automobiles would have been seen as witchcraft by those living in the 1600's.
#92. To: FormerLurker, Alan Chapman, TwentyTwelve, Wudidiz, robin, all (#91)
(Edited)
Exactly - which is why I call them "septics" rather than the skeptics they try to claim they are. As soon as someone takes a position pro or con then one has ceased being a skeptic. The one thread that runs through the so-called "skeptics" crowd is that they are largely advocates of the "con" or "anti" position on most of the subjects they address, but they falsely and dishonestly claim neutrality. They are best viewed as advocates of the authoritarian status quo. To put it direct they ARE advocates NOT skeptics. When they are confronted with evidence that is contrary to their prejudices and their "anti" position they shit a load of the proverbial bricks, start sputtering, and begin with the name calling. That "name-calling" is in and of itself clear evidence of the underlying closed mindset. They simply cannot step back and consider that the other side of a proposition might have some merit. This is no different from the various 'bots one can find infesting political and current events forums. That is why it becomes quickly apparent that some unknown percentage of the so-called "Skeptics" are highly likely forms of Spooks and CoIntelPro agitators. The, less than, Amazing Randi comes readily to mind - he will not say where his funding comes from and is completely closed lipped about it. Absolutely - it would all be "magic". Likely you would be burned at the stake - which is what the septics would like to do to anyone who disagrees with their narrow unimaginative minds. Aircraft of any kind would be "of the Devil", computers completely inscrutable, and automobiles an abomination against God. Take an example from more recent times - the "Cargo Cults" of New Guinea. Aircraft were completely beyond their ken and so the work of God. So, they built effigies to attract them so that God would give them some "cargo" too.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest "...while around one-third of those polled also said they believe in UFOs, witches and astrology."
#25. To: Original_Intent (#21)
#27. To: Alan Chapman, Original_Intent (#25)
#32. To: FormerLurker (#27)
#38. To: Alan Chapman (#32)
#52. To: FormerLurker (#38)
#53. To: Alan Chapman (#52)
#55. To: FormerLurker (#53)
#56. To: Alan Chapman (#55)
(Edited)
When viewed from the ground, birds may appear to be moving at high speed when passing in front of clouds.
#59. To: FormerLurker, Alan Chapman, TwentyTwelve, Wudidiz, all (#56)
#67. To: Original_Intent (#59)
#68. To: Alan Chapman (#67)
Meteors have been observed entering the atmosphere at 10 miles/sec
#85. To: FormerLurker (#68)
#87. To: Alan Chapman (#85)
If you know anything about physics then you know the unlikelihood of something making a 90 degree turn at high velocity. (unless they have inertial dampers installed, right?)
#90. To: FormerLurker, Alan Chapman, TwentyTwelve, Wudidiz, robin, all (#87)
(Edited)
If you know anything about physics then you know the unlikelihood of something making a 90 degree turn at high velocity. (unless they have inertial dampers installed, right?)
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." ~ Arthur C. Clarke
#91. To: Original_Intent (#90)
The problem one runs into in dealing with the septics is the hidden premise which they will never explicity state i.e., that the technology which we have at this time and place on Planet Earth is the most advanced technology in all of the universe, known and unknown, and that if it is beyond our technical capabilities then it is impossible and that it is inconceivable that any other civilization either exists or could be millions of years ahead of us in their mastery of physical universe principles.
Replies to Comment # 91. Again we're back to the flat earthers and those that said it was impossible for men to fly. They are so short sighted that anything not yet done HAS to be impossible.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." ~ Arthur C. Clarke
I'm sure aircraft, computers, and automobiles would have been seen as witchcraft by those living in the 1600's.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 91.