4 in 10 Americans Believe God Created Earth 10,000 Years Ago

Not sure if this is the right Board for this, so please move if necessary. Thank you.

Hey Friends,

I find this quite unbelievable and would enjoy opinions.

Four in 10 Americans believe God created the Earth and anatomically modern humans, less than 10,000 years ago, according to a new Gallup poll.

With all of our technological advancements that permit us to research a little about this planet's history and our evolution, I cannot conceive that 40% are still living in medieval times.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like that the title mentions Americans and I wish that this thread doesn't turn into an "Americans are ignorant" bashing thread. I would be willing to bet that this percentage might even be higher if it was a global poll.

I just don't get it.

If you read the article linked below, you will find other gems as well, such as:

- 80% believe in miracles (okay...I'm one of those...)...

- 75% believe in the virgin birth of Jesus...

- one out of four has no clue that the Earth revolves around the Sun and not the other way around...

And more...

Linkie


Stumped.

Like, Hello? This isn't North Korea or Iran where information is not available. We have the internet, we have education for those who need it...so...how can this be?

My "Deny Ignorance" meter blew a fuse while reading this article. Really, how can this be, in 2014?

Thoughts?

But, but, but.....it's in the bible so it has to be true...

It would have been interesting to see a world statistic for sure. This reminded of a time I was at a party and this girl didn't know stars were just suns farther away, in fact it seemed like she didn't even think about what they were. How can somebody look at the sky at night and not even think about what those twinkling, beautiful lights are!!?? Anyways it goes without saying I just walked away from her and avoided her the rest of the party.

The simple fact is that you can put all the information and facts in front of people that you want, but you can't make them learn if they don't want to. As a result, these idiots teach their children their ignorance and the cycle of stupid continues on. This wouldn't be such a bad thing, but the dumb people are always the loudest complainers...

I'd like to see these statistics based on the upper and lower halves of the country. These are all strictly Christian beliefs mainly based on Biblical misinterpretations. Give your average Christian from Alabama a copy of a Shakespearean play and he would probably admit that he can't make sense of it, put a Bible in his hands and he suddenly becomes a literary genius.

a reply to: Shepard64

HA! Thanks for the laugh !!

You gotta wonder at times...

a reply to: SonoftheSun

Personally, I find belief in miracles just as silly as belief in a young earth, and find it kind of ironic when any group of religious people deride another group of religious people for their beliefs.

Like "Oh that Scientology is absurd! Now the real truth is that an ancient Jewish dissident walked on water and rose from the dead. That's the real sh**"

Please.

a reply to: ReturnofTheSonOfNothing

Personally, I find belief in miracles just as silly as belief in a young earth,

I agree and I put myself in a position there saying that I believe in miracles. To be honest, it's not miracles I believe in, it's just some extraordinary things do happen without logical explanations. That I believe in. Some illnesses disappear without a trace and no medical explanations to support the result, that sort of stuff.

I do agree with you.

originally posted by: SonoftheSun
a reply to: ReturnofTheSonOfNothing

Personally, I find belief in miracles just as silly as belief in a young earth,

I agree and I put myself in a position there saying that I believe in miracles. To be honest, it's not miracles I believe in, it's just some extraordinary things do happen without logical explanations. That I believe in. Some illnesses disappear without a trace and no medical explanations to support the result, that sort of stuff.

I do agree with you.

Consider that there is no such thing as "extraordinary". There is only what can and cannot be done within our universe. The only reason we would call it extraordinary is because we don't fully understand the phenomenon.

a reply to: SonoftheSun

If something appears miraculous to us, then it is just because we do not possess all the relevant information to make an informed conclusion. There is a logical, rational explanation - we just do not understand it.

ETA - Krazysh0t beat me to it.

originally posted by: ReturnofTheSonOfNothing
a reply to: SonoftheSun

If something appears miraculous to us, then it is just because we do not possess all the relevant information to make an informed conclusion. There is a logical, rational explanation - we just do not understand it.

ETA - Krazysh0t beat me to it.

This is also a reply to Krazysh0t's similar reply.

Makes sense. Lot of unknowns still, in a lot of domains. I agree.

a reply to: SonoftheSun

Starred for your intellectual honesty.

a reply to: SonoftheSun

Those 4 in 10 Americans are retarded. I respect the right to observe any faith you want to practice but a person's faith must change when hard evidence contradicts mythology. Social policy should not kowtow to zealotry. If you could reason with a religious person religion wouldn't exist. I agree with the govt. in this matter. Fundamentalist religions are extremely dangerous and should be monitored.

That is one of the most ridiculous stats i have ever heard..i know not 1 single person who believes this..not for 1 cotton pickin second..lmao
Cheers

I believe the world figures would be less, actually. Biblical literalism is a uniquely American thing these day. In the last couple decades the "born-again" evangelical brand of Xianity has started to raise it's head Down Under, more recently UK.

Education is key, but before learning can occur (especially at the adult level) the individual has to be open/receptive to the new information. Consider deluded beliefs like a bad habit, not only must you want to change, but also replace that habit with something else and practice that new habit. Most people fail there, it's called the knowledge-practice trap.

The sad thing is that most adults don't know how to discern fact from fiction, let alone the kids who only learn about critical thinking if they go to college. Add the fact that most people also demonstrate unhealthy cognition methodology. Psychologically healthy individuals employ a "thoughts lead to actions which generate feelings" cycle. Where most people are (WhMPAs in CBT circles) start go through the cognitive cycle in reverse - "feelings which lead them to acting in a certain way which lead to thoughts".

When the unhealthy cycle is followed people are acting on how they "feel" the "thoughts" they have are always negative (depression, anxiety, anger). Cognitive dissonance ensues as well. All of this simply causes a reinforcement of the deluded thoughts.

If knowledge advances in a cyclical manner, it seems we are seeing a down trough, which is sad.

I think the headline is wrong. Because that finding doesn't represent a change. This is the more interesting finding:

Though the percentage of people who believe in creationism has changed little over the decades, the percentage of people who believe humans evolved without God has more than doubled, and the percentage who believe in God-guided evolution has decreased.

This fits with other surveys that show the number of atheists and agnostics in the population has more than doubled since 1990. It's nearing 20% of the population according to some surveys.

Another point worth mentioning, I've met a lot of self-described "conservative Christians" over the years. And most of them defy expectations. And they seem to see their religion as a key part of their cultural identity rather than a faith. They may claim they believe in a young earth. But they sure don't live like they do.

a reply to: vonclod
I'm not sure where you are from, but I encounter people like this quite frequently. However, they don't go around proclaiming it to the world unless they are among other people who do or they feel their religious freedoms are being infringed by their children being exposed to science education.

This belief is on of the driving forces behind the homeschooling movement.

I have a feeling that the "age of religion" is winding down. I hypothesize that in the next several hundred years there will be a paradigm shift towards science. If we want to reach the stars, we have to crawl out of our caves and put our mythical invisible sky-god away.

originally posted by: SonoftheSun

Like, Hello? This isn't North Korea or Iran where information is not available. We have the internet, we have education for those who need it...so...how can this be?

My "Deny Ignorance" meter blew a fuse while reading this article. Really, how can this be, in 2014?

Thoughts?

“You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” -Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Welp, mission accomplished.

I don't know when and don't really care I am just glad the omnipotent being did so. I feel Christianity is close but not right ...all the way.
I can't tell WHAT you would call or label my faith but it really isn't THAT definable and doesn't NEED to be,we'll figure it out when we are dead.