More Believe In Space Aliens Than In God According To U.K. Survey.

I suppose you can 'beleive' in either and you don't necessarily have to subscribe to a religious cult (or sect) to accept the notion of some kind of supreme being but there's a relevant survey below taken recently in the UK which seems to show more folks now 'believe in space aliens than in god'.

Granted you always have to be a bit sceptical of 'surveys' but I thought it made some interesting points, especially when it states that over half those interviewed believe UFO evidence has been covered up by the government and 1 in 10 had witnessed an 'unidentified flying object'.

Space Alien:

More than 33 million U.K. citizens believe in extraterrestrial life, compared to just over 27 million -- less than half the country -- who believe in God.

That's the result of an online survey of 1,359 adults who were asked a variety of questions ranging from belief in alien visits to Earth, suspicions of UFO cover-ups, belief in extraterrestrials vs. belief in God, and whether or not men actually landed on the moon.

The survey, conducted by Opinion Matters, revealed the following statistics among those surveyed:

•52 percent believe UFO evidence has been covered up because widespread knowledge of their existence would threaten government stability.

•44 percent believe in God.

•One in 10 people has reported seeing a UFO.

•A quarter more men than women claim to have seen UFOs.

•20 percent of respondents believe UFOs have landed on Earth.

•More than five million British citizens believe the Apollo moon landings were faked.

While the survey was conducted as part of a tie-in with a new video game, "XCOM: Enemy Unknown," it was a legitimate sampling of opinions that can be taken to represent the population of the U.K., according to the agency that conducted the survey.

"Yes, it has been done with an independent panel through a bonafide research company," said Karen Brooks, managing director of Opinion Matters, a well-known market research agency that created the survey.

"Surveys can be done face-to-face, over the telephone and online. This one was a U.K. adult sample, which is quite broad, and doing it online is a quick, effective way of getting to that audience," she continued. "We make sure that all of the questions are compliant from a research perspective."

link

Anyone out there have any thoughts on this one - personally I'm not the biggest fan of organised religion and think the universe is probably teeming with life (link) so I'd say certain aspects of the survey are a good thing.. and yes, before anyone says it I know UFO does not mean 'alien'.

It's difficult to believe there's a god, when the world is in the state it's in. That's my personal feeling about it.

I would have to agree that the likelihood of life existing elsewhere in such a vast universe far exceeds the likelihood of there being a god of any sort.

Aliens / gods are not mutually exclusive. In fact, if one exists then they are likely the same thing as the other. We are just one planet amongst billions, and life is teeming on this planet even in some totally inhospitable places, so to think that life is unique to ours is arrogance. Whether that life has developed enough to travel to other planets is another matter though.

Personally I believe that everything humans do on planet earth is done exclusively by humans. Gods/aliens/demons/etc are created to either control people through ignorance and superstition, or delulsions that people hide behind to excuse and validate their questionable activities.

Humans are only living life according to design. All throughout the various forms of life, there is deception and war, right down to the single cells. Its just how it is, we are not especially evil, we are just who we are. Assuming there was a creator god, I doubt they would intervene in such a world they created when its going according to plan.

I'd like to see the numbers broken down by "people who believe in ET life elsewhere" and "people who believe in alien visitation".

I believe that ET life almost certainly exists elsewhere in the universe, but I don't necessarily feel there is enough evidence for me to say that the Earth is being visited by aliens (although I don't discount that possibility).

The existence of God would be more of an "act of faith" thing for me, just like believing in alien visitation of Earth. I don't discount the possibility that there was some intelligent superbeing that created the universe, but I don't have enough evidence to necessarily believe in that creator, either.

Seems this would be a biased science-fiction enthusiast crowd of only 1359 people?

While the survey was conducted as part of a tie-in with a new video game, "XCOM: Enemy Unknown," it was a legitimate sampling of opinions that can be taken to represent the population of the U.K., according to the agency that conducted the survey.

It states that 52% believe in UFO cover ups, not aliens. UFO's can be man made as well, if they are actually taking that into consideration.

•52 percent believe UFO evidence has been covered up because widespread knowledge of their existence would threaten government stability.

•44 percent believe in God.

*** --->> Wonder what percentage believe God and Ancient Astronauts are one in the same?

Doesn't believing in either/or require the same psychological behavior?

This makes no sense at all. All Gods are in actuality ET's. Even if you buy the fact that God lives in heaven, God would still be an ET. We call them Gods because they have much more power and knowledge than we do.

That's the result of an online survey of 1,359 adults who were asked a variety of questions ranging from belief in alien visits to Earth, suspicions of UFO cover-ups, belief in extraterrestrials vs. belief in God, and whether or not men actually landed on the moon

reply to post by karl 12

So they can work this out by only 1,356 adults taking the survey no offence to you OP

reply to post by sligtlyskeptical

Praise E.T., somebody gets it.
God, Angels, Demons = Extra Terrestrial.

Many don't want to even think about that because if they did they would start to see the reasoning behind it.

Originally posted by karl 12

Space Alien:

Cant say for sure about Gods or Aliens, but I certainly believe in David Bowie.

That's funny.

Thing is, some of that demographic replaces 'god' with space aliens, or some space alien incorporated version or new agey re-interpretation of the concept of 'god' in covering as many possible bases at once, similarly believing and 'worshiping' space aliens as they would some classical mythological figures; talking to the 'telepathically' (praying), adhering to weird socially self marginalizing rituals and practices and delusions (pyramid power, crystals, OBE, etc), as well as similarly having 'religious' experiences where they meet/experience their god/alien through abduction, subjective conviction of close encounter, channeling, dreams, so-called lucid dreaming, and/or entirely subjective conviction of telepathic communication.

Often enough incense burning, 'hippie' style fashion choices, and mystical looking jewelry tends to show some prevalence too.

Fun stuff.

This doesn't apply to everyone that jumps on the believer wagon, and some of these symptoms may present some of the time with some of the adherents, but rarely all of the symptoms at one time.

Those this applies to the most, seem to take exceptional offense at the stereotype, puzzlingly so when they're the ones adhering to the stereotype

Originally posted by maryhinge

That's the result of an online survey of 1,359 adults who were asked a variety of questions ranging from belief in alien visits to Earth, suspicions of UFO cover-ups, belief in extraterrestrials vs. belief in God, and whether or not men actually landed on the moon

reply to post by karl 12

 

So they can work this out by only 1,356 adults taking the survey no offence to you OP

Most opinion polls (such as the ones we in the U.S. have seen lately for president) are sometimes based on only about 1,500 to 2,000 respondents. The next opinion poll you see on TV will probaly be madeup of less than 5,000 respondents.

My concern with this poll is what 'Lonewulph" mentioned in a post above -- and that is that this survey was a tie-in to a video game. Does that mean that mostly video-game enthusiast were the target response group?

Its not clear whether it was random sampling of the thousand people or whether it was a sample of people somehow already interested in the XCOM game. Self selecting surveys are worthless.

That said I would be overjoyed if it were true, it would be a sign of progress.

Its a generational issue. Without strong and sustained indoctrination god belief will inevitably fade. Its a positive thing.

On the other side, the more evidence we get of the universe the more improbable it seems we are all there ever has been.

So they can work this out by only 1,356 adults taking the survey no offence to you OP

ive seen presidential polls with less people polled. why would this be different?

Not sure who the sample targeted but the result doesn't surprise me. Religion does not play a part in most people's lives any longer in the UK. Although the two things are not mutually exclusive of each other. Chances are higher that humanity will one day find real proof of aliens that will be accepted globally. With God it is much more subjective and really down to what you believe in.

Wow! 44% of people in Britain believe in god?

I thought we had moved on more than that.

Originally posted by MrUncreated

It's difficult to believe there's a god, when the world is in the state it's in. That's my personal feeling about it.

MrUncreated, thanks for the reply and I'm sure many people feel the same way you do... although I would speculate that most (if not all) of mankind's current problems are 'man made' (as are all the gods worshipped by organised religion as well).

Found this relevant quote by Anne Druyan in an old thread about the Voyager spacecraft's 'pale blue dot' image and thought it brought up quite a few important points about life elsewhere and specific religious beliefs - especially when she talks about different perspectives.

Earth taken by spacecraft Voyager 1 - 4 billion miles away:

Ann Druyan suggest an experiment: Take a look at the pale blue dot image. Take a good long look at it. Stare at the dot for any length of time and then try to convince yourself that God created the whole Universe for one of the 10 million or so species of life that inhabit that speck of dust. Now take it a step further: Imagine that everything was made just for a single shade of that species, or gender, or ethnic or religious subdivision. If this doesn't strike you as unlikely, pick another dot. Imagine it to be inhabited by a different form of intelligent life. They, too, cherish the notion of a God who has created everything for their benefit. How seriously do you take their claim?

Carl Sagan, Cosmos

PDF file

Cheers.

Originally posted by MrUncreated
It's difficult to believe there's a god, when the world is in the state it's in. That's my personal feeling about it.

Plus, if we follow the evidence of life we would have to say that we humans are proof that life exists in this universe. So, it would not be irrational to think that there is life elsewhere in the universe.

I also find it funny that so many believe that the governments are covering up evidence of aliens and UFO's, but I strongly doubt that ANYONE believes that the governments are covering up secrets about gods and angels. That's how little even the believers believe in gods and angels.

reply to post by karl 12


Very nice response and fun to think about.

I'm not an overtly religious man, but in private, I find a comfort in having a faith, believing we all have eternal spirits, there's no harm done if I'm wrong,...but personally, it provides a net of hope within me, and I prefer to believe that I am much more than this physical shell, and there's much more than this world. A safe harbor for my thoughts in times such as these where man is destroying himself. I feel I have something to look forward to and I feel sorry for those who choose to live without such a faith. Perhaps that might be why they come across so...grumpy.

Here's an amusing 2003 thread on the question of 'did God create many worlds?.

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People

I'd like to see the numbers broken down by "people who believe in ET life elsewhere" and "people who believe in alien visitation".

Hey mate, so would I and as Justwokeup has already pointed out, the sample group would have to be completely random to gain any worthwhile info.

There are two newspaper articles below which deal with Gallop UFO polls taken in 1973 and 1978 which also raise some interesting points about increases in witness percentages and a sharp rise in number of people believing in ET life elsewhere...but they don't really make the distinction either.


1973:

“More Than 15 Million People Have Seen UFOs".

News Archive

1978:

“13 Million In U.S. Have Had ‘Close Encounter’”.

News Archive

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People

I believe that ET life almost certainly exists elsewhere in the universe, but I don't necessarily feel there is enough evidence for me to say that the Earth is being visited by aliens (although I don't discount that possibility).

Well, there's certainly some extremely compelling UFO cases out there but I agree there's no 'unequivocable proof' as to the true nature of the objects involved (it really does make one wonder though).

I don't know if you've seen the doc in Orkojoker's thread below featuring interviews with scientists about the prospect of ET visitation but I really did enjoy it and it's very well done - this film which accompanies the doc is also well worth a watch if you're into that sort of thing.


THE Best Set of UFO Interviews I've Ever Seen


Cheers.