Half Of Americans Believe In Angels

Half Of Americans Believe In Angels

washingtontimes.com

Half of all Americans believe they are protected by guardian angels, one-fifth say they've heard God speak to them, one-quarter say they have witnessed miraculous healings, 16 percent say they've received one and 8 percent say they pray in tongues, according to a survey released Thursday by Baylor University.

The wide-ranging survey of 1,648 adults, who were asked 350 questions on their religious practices last fall, reveals a significant majority who are comfortable with the supernatural.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Wow, this is a pretty big number IMO.

I wonder if such a number increases in the times of planetary strife and turmoil?

Where do ATS members sit on this subject?

Although I haven't seen enough to convince me they exist, I keep an open mind to the possibility of anything being possible.

“Mystical experiences are widespread,” said Rodney Stark, co-director of Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion.

“I'd have guessed 15 percent instead of 55,” he added, referring to the 55 percent who claimed angelic protection. “This is the taboo subject in American religion. No one studies it, but there is a lot of it out there.”

washingtontimes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I wonder if such a number increases in the times of planetary strife and turmoil?

Wonder no more...definitely. "No atheists in a fox hole" analogy works here I think...

16% stating they have received a miraculous healing...?

I have no idea how they collected their data or structured their questionaire, but that number seems high - kinda like the people claiming this...

"You know what I think it is? I think it's a massive, collective, psychotic chemical flashback for all the drugs smoked, swallowed, shot, and obsorbed rectally by all Americans from 1960 to 1990. Thirty years of street drugs will get you some angels, my friend!"

In the words of George Carlin. In his standup he said it was 3/4 believed in angels so looks like its gone down a bit. I'm curious about what sort of miracle healing people have witnessed.

[edit on 20-9-2008 by ghaleon12]

Half of American voted for George bush TWICE .. Nuff said .

Now this report is utter crap.

Lets really ask ALL americans.

This is just a statisitic. 40% of all statitsitics are wrong. Maybe even this statement....lol

Where did this poll take place ? In Utah ?

Don't beleive everything you read. This is just to turn popular beleive into truth. Christian Propaganda. Don't say it's not. The angel myth is achristian myth.

Angels, demons, aliens, same thing...

Interdimensional, Not interplanetary

reply to post by tsEnigma

I am with ya on that one.. interdimensional, not interplanetary. I get shivers up my back when I think about it, but that are forces at work which are ushering the epoch.

To quote a very popular book: Some people cn be healed of anything. It really depends on the criteria involved, how the question was presented,ect. If I prayed I'd get over the flu before a job interview, and I do, God cured me!
So America has a lot of Christians. Shocking.

I guess it depends upon your definition of an Angel.

Half the people on the planet think humans are just biological machines of one sort or another, without any type of soul or connection to anything larger, and that consciousness is just some sort of sophisticated computer program.

I have seen lots of people here on ATS that agree with that statement -- at least half of the people here, I would estimate?

But isn't that obviously and patently false?

Edit: Angels, of one kind or another, seem very possible to me.

[edit on 21-9-2008 by Buck Division]

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


" Half Of Americans Believe In Angels "


Why is this important to you?

Lots of folks think obama is their savior too, and I put no stock in that at all.



That being said,

Angels are real but they have no wings, that's pure myth/hollywood/artists rendition to separate the regular folks from them.

Originally posted by tsEnigma
Angels, demons, aliens, same thing...

Interdimensional, Not interplanetary

I take issue with that description!!

That'd be like saying Al Capone and Betty Crocker were the same kind of people! ....


If you meant they were similar by the fact they are interdimensional,

then we would be in agreement, but they most certainly are different in their reasons for being here.

I didn't realise that half the population of America consisted of only 824 people.



I'm sure it was closer to a figure of 301,139,947


Glad to see it's a definitive poll (as most polls are)

[edit on 21-9-2008 by Chadwickus]

It would be important for me to know the definition of an angel that was given to those who participated in this poll before I could decide whether or not I believe in angels. I do believe that there are other dimensions that may contain forces that resemble life.

edit= fix spelling error

[edit on 21-9-2008 by space cadet]

Originally posted by Chadwickus
I didn't realise that half the population of America consisted of only 824 people. I'm sure it was closer to a figure of 301,139,947

The weird thing is, according to statistical sampling theory, it doesn't matter that much if you choose only 1600 people or 300 million. As you increase the number of people in the sample, you achieve less error -- true -- but at 1600 people your margin of error (that is, your chances that the study does not reflect the opinion of all people) is only 5%!

That assumes a COMPLETELY RANDOM AND REPRESENTATIVE sample. (That may not be the case, but I suspect for a question like this, it is probably the way things are actually done.)

Go figure. Statistical science! It has been proven over and over again.

reply to post by Buck Division


The statistical sampling theory will only work if whoever conducts the poll, conducts it with a broad range of subjects all over the country. Who says these 1600 odd people were all at some spiritual show somewhere? Obviously the stats are going to be biased.

Sorry but it's just too random to buy it.

Originally posted by d11_m_na_c05
Half of American voted for George bush TWICE .. Nuff said .

i like it.

polls are ridiculous...including this one.

on the discussion of angels though, yes i beleive though thats only because i want to. i dont have proof...just hope. oh and no....i dont only beleive in times of need...thats just selfish.

Re: the statistical sampling -- it's notoriously difficult to get representative samples from phone surveys, since a fairly large portion of the population has no interest in talking to surveyors But who knows, maybe they manages it.

I'm less shocked by the angels and healings stats than by the "speaking in tongues" while praying! That's what, like one in twelve Americans? Wow!

I think a lot of angel-believers are kind of soft-christianity/new agey angel believers, if you will. Most of the people I know would probably define a "guardian angel" as a "protective spirit", without all the seraphim, fallen angel, Gabriel, Raphael, etc. Biblical details.

[edit on 9/21/08 by americandingbat]

I think this video speaks for itself in regards to the overall theme of this topic. Mods can you please help me with a video posting?

www.youtube.com...

I think the writers of this article have to be playing fast and loose with their descriptions here.

All devout Christians, Jews, and Muslims believe in the existence of angels. They are a major part of the books. But guardian angels? Totally different matter. The article did not differentiate so something seems off.