Poll: Majority of Americans dumb as rocks

[Black Dog]

Americans do not believe that humans evolved, and the vast majority says that even if they evolved, God guided the process.

55 per cent of Americans believe God created humans in their present form. 65 per cent want creationism taught in schools. And we're supposed to trust these people with nuclear weapons?

[jdobbin]

Americans do not believe that humans evolved, and the vast majority says that even if they evolved, God guided the process.

55 per cent of Americans believe God created humans in their present form. 65 per cent want creationism taught in schools. And we're supposed to trust these people with nuclear weapons?

It is not surprising given the evangelical rise in the last few years. The interpretation of the Bible in a literal sense drives the argument.

The science backlash has already resulted in some scientists coming to Canada.

[Liam]

I'm not saying the %s have shifted significantly since this election year poll (2004), but why did you feel the need to publish something that is 2 years old? Can't find any newer basis for criticism of Americans?

[Jerry J. Fortin]

So what? I live in the Bible Belt in Alberta, there are lts of folks out here believe the same thing. I agree that there are far better things to beat on Yankees for, but why beat them at all?

Canadians need to look around and find out who their friends really are. We OWE the Americans a hell of a lot and we don't want to recognize this fact. Guess what, its time to wake up and smell the coffee. In my books I would rather trust an American than a central Canadian ! At least I know what the American agenda is, and they aren't going to try and tax me to death. Oh they might build a few factories and hire thousands of people, but they will stay the hell out of my pocket.

[jdobbin]

So what? I live in the Bible Belt in Alberta, there are lts of folks out here believe the same thing. I agree that there are far better things to beat on Yankees for, but why beat them at all?

Canadians need to look around and find out who their friends really are. We OWE the Americans a hell of a lot and we don't want to recognize this fact. Guess what, its time to wake up and smell the coffee. In my books I would rather trust an American than a central Canadian ! At least I know what the American agenda is, and they aren't going to try and tax me to death. Oh they might build a few factories and hire thousands of people, but they will stay the hell out of my pocket.

It is just a viewpoint that many Americans have. Nothing wrong with that except that some scientists in small numbers now but maybe in greater numbers later, are leaving the United States because of the anti-science stance that is being taken some American quarters.

[Drea]

So what? I live in the Bible Belt in Alberta, there are lts of folks out here believe the same thing. I agree that there are far better things to beat on Yankees for, but why beat them at all?

Canadians need to look around and find out who their friends really are. We OWE the Americans a hell of a lot and we don't want to recognize this fact. Guess what, its time to wake up and smell the coffee. In my books I would rather trust an American than a central Canadian ! At least I know what the American agenda is, and they aren't going to try and tax me to death. Oh they might build a few factories and hire thousands of people, but they will stay the hell out of my pocket.

Money (ie; your pocket) is not the ONLY issue on earth.

We don't "owe" anybody anything! What makes you think we "owe" our American neighbours? What is it exactly we "owe"? Money? Respect? An apology? A good spanking?

We are a country, they are a country. They buy stuff from us, we buy stuff from them, we share a continent and a border, we share cousins and brothers and sisters, we share -- but we don't "owe".

BTW, what does America "owe" us for the Iran hostage affair? After all our gov't went above and beyond by giving American citizens Canadian passports and getting them the hell outta Dodge (Iran) before the Iranian gov't discovered them! OOooh, they owe us big time for that one! (they don't really, we do it because we are humanitarians not because we want to put an IOU in the bank.)

[Black Dog]

I'm not saying the %s have shifted significantly since this election year poll (2004), but why did you feel the need to publish something that is 2 years old? Can't find any newer basis for criticism of Americans?

I stumbled across it while surfing and thought it was a hoot. Also, given the current simmering anti-science climate in the States, it seemed timely.

[Jerry J. Fortin]

Money (ie; your pocket) is not the ONLY issue on earth.

We don't "owe" anybody anything! What makes you think we "owe" our American neighbours? What is it exactly we "owe"? Money? Respect? An apology? A good spanking?

A large portion of Canadian economy was agrarian in nature before the second world war wasn't it? That changed because the American industry involved in the war effort sought and acquired both raw material and products from Canadian soiurces to fuel their growing capacity to fight wars. From this point forward our society changed in a dramatic manner. Check it out and see for yourself, granted we did it ourselves but tell me that the Americans had nothing to do with it. To a large degree we OWE our economic position to them.

We are a country, they are a country. They buy stuff from us, we buy stuff from them, we share a continent and a border, we share cousins and brothers and sisters, we share -- but we don't "owe".

Take all of the American investment out of this country, all of the jobs, all of the advances we have made. Then tell me that we don't owe them a "thanks" for being a good neigbor.

BTW, what does America "owe" us for the Iran hostage affair? After all our gov't went above and beyond by giving American citizens Canadian passports and getting them the hell outta Dodge (Iran) before the Iranian gov't discovered them! OOooh, they owe us big time for that one! (they don't really, we do it because we are humanitarians not because we want to put an IOU in the bank.)

Well you answered you own question there.........

[Leafless]

Americans do not believe that humans evolved, and the vast majority says that even if they evolved, God guided the process.

55 per cent of Americans believe God created humans in their present form. 65 per cent want creationism taught in schools. And we're supposed to trust these people with nuclear weapons?

Maybe that's why they have nuclear weapons and are a world super power and we don't have nuclear weapons much less a functioning military and a screwed up society.

Think about it!!

And really BD this is a major slight against the U.S. and personal religion to say the amoeba predominates GOD.

[Black Dog]

Maybe that's why they have nuclear weapons and are a world super power and we don't have nuclear weapons much less a functioning military and a screwed up society.

Think about it!!

So they have nuclear weapons because the average person doesn't believe in science? Sorry, don't see the linkage there. The nuke thing was a joke anyway (mostly).

And really BD this is a major slight against the U.S. and personal religion to say the amoeba predominates GOD.

Well, that's kind of the idea. Ridiculous beliefs deserve to be ridiculed.

[Charles Anthony]

Most discussions involving the super-natural are best resolved on late-night radio.

[Shady]

Ahh Black Dog, at it again huh? You know, billions of people believe in God, world wide. Why don't you denigrate them as well? Again, how very ethnocentric of you.

[Black Dog]

Ahh Black Dog, at it again huh? You know, billions of people believe in God, world wide. Why don't you denigrate them as well?

Indeed, there are billions of people world wide who ascribe to outdated, archaic, illogical supernatural belief systems. A good percentage of them are poor illiterates living in socially repressive and scientifically primative societies. Across the globe there's an inverse correlation between education, economic prosperity, social liberty and scientific advancement and the degree of religious belief, the United States being one of the few notable exceptions. So I'm willing to cut people who can't read a bit of slack when it comes to harbouring foolish notions of the origins of life. Americans? Not so much.

[rover1]

I don't much care what the Americans believe in this respect. They are entitled to their beliefs, whether I like them or not.

Jerry J Fortin may be surprised to discover that much of the industrialisation he mentions came from Canada being it location for the British Empire Air Training Scheme, and supplying the Empire with the tools of war, long before the Americans came into the war. The Americans, who 'sat on their hands while we defended the world,' until the Japanese attacked them in 1941, were considered by many at the time as war profiteers, and made a great deal of money from 1939 onwards. The US did place orders in Canada, and they were filled, but so what? We were helping them, easily as much as they were helping us. If they could have got what they wanted elsewhere cheaper, they would have done so. We owe them no special gratitude, it was business as usual for them, and for us, even though a war was going on.

[Argus]

Americans do not believe that humans evolved, and the vast majority says that even if they evolved, God guided the process.

55 per cent of Americans believe God created humans in their present form. 65 per cent want creationism taught in schools. And we're supposed to trust these people with nuclear weapons?

Weren't you one of the ones saying it's no big deal if Iran gets nuclear weapons?

[August1991]

From BD's link above:

But most would not substitute the teaching of creationism for the teaching of evolution in public schools.

So, on perhaps the most important question of all, Americans have an open mind, and want their children to be exposed to ideas they, as parents, don't necessarily hold.

It's a pity the rest of the world is not the same.

[jdobbin]

From BD's link above:

But most would not substitute the teaching of creationism for the teaching of evolution in public schools.

So, on perhaps the most important question of all, Americans have an open mind, and want their children to be exposed to ideas they, as parents, don't necessarily hold.

It's a pity the rest of the world is not the same.

The federal court has ruled that this is a question of church and state, a constitutional matter. Is creationism a science or a religious view? The court has said it is a religious view and as such can't be taught in public schools.

[Shady]

Indeed, there are billions of people world wide who ascribe to outdated, archaic, illogical supernatural belief systems

I just don't understand your need to denigrate people who happen to believe in God.

Weren't you one of the ones saying it's no big deal if Iran gets nuclear weapons?

Yes, Black Dog's a model of consistency.

[BHS]

Ahh Black Dog, at it again huh? You know, billions of people believe in God, world wide. Why don't you denigrate them as well?

Indeed, there are billions of people world wide who ascribe to outdated, archaic, illogical supernatural belief systems. A good percentage of them are poor illiterates living in socially repressive and scientifically primative societies. Across the globe there's an inverse correlation between education, economic prosperity, social liberty and scientific advancement and the degree of religious belief, the United States being one of the few notable exceptions. So I'm willing to cut people who can't read a bit of slack when it comes to harbouring foolish notions of the origins of life. Americans? Not so much.

And besides, why worship God when you can worship the state? The allegorical vengence of an etheral super-being doesn't have the same authenticity as the collective bootheel on your windpipe.

I like, too, how you equate belief with intelligence, as if one was a proof of the other.

[newbie]

Dinosaurs on the Ark? Apparently so:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/museum/

[Black Dog]

Weren't you one of the ones saying it's no big deal if Iran gets nuclear weapons?

Oh brother.

So, on perhaps the most important question of all, Americans have an open mind, and want their children to be exposed to ideas they, as parents, don't necessarily hold.

Well, hey, let's apply the same standards for other disciplines. Fo rinstance, why not teach the point of view that the Holocaust didn't happen? After all, it's important and, indeed, noble, to expose children to new ideas.

I just don't understand your need to denigrate people who happen to believe in God.

Well, maybe I just don't understand why I should give deference to silly superstitions. Would you demand people who believe in astrology, crystals or other new-age hokum be accorded the same degree of respect for their cherished beliefs? Anyway, the beauty of a free society is that people are free to believe wheatever stupid crap they want and I am free to ridicule them. And I would never advocate the suppression of those beliefs except in such cases (as in the teaching of creationism in science class) where supernatural beliefs are imposed upon the secular sphere.

And besides, why worship God when you can worship the state? The allegorical vengence of an etheral super-being doesn't have the same authenticity as the collective bootheel on your windpipe.

Well, that's a non-sequiter....

I like, too, how you equate belief with intelligence, as if one was a proof of the other.

Actually I equate belief (or, to be percise, non-belief) with education levels, which in turn have a positive correlation with overall intelligence. Or are you saying the countries with the highest levels of literacy, education and overall social and scientific advancement do not have lower levels of religious belief than those on the opposite end of the scale?

[Jerry J. Fortin]

I don't much care what the Americans believe in this respect. They are entitled to their beliefs, whether I like them or not.

Jerry J Fortin may be surprised to discover that much of the industrialisation he mentions came from Canada being it location for the British Empire Air Training Scheme, and supplying the Empire with the tools of war, long before the Americans came into the war. The Americans, who 'sat on their hands while we defended the world,' until the Japanese attacked them in 1941, were considered by many at the time as war profiteers, and made a great deal of money from 1939 onwards. The US did place orders in Canada, and they were filled, but so what? We were helping them, easily as much as they were helping us. If they could have got what they wanted elsewhere cheaper, they would have done so. We owe them no special gratitude, it was business as usual for them, and for us, even though a war was going on.

Actually I had never heard that description before, I always believed it to be the Commonwealth Air Training Program. That was in error I see now with looking into it to refresh my memories. The scheme itself did not provide much industrial infrastructure in Canada though. While it did build a lot of airbases and support facilities, I don't think you can point to those places that still exist and say that they were the basis of our industrial development.

I will ask a simple question, would the Allies have won the war without the help of the United States of America?

[Shady]

The federal court has ruled that this is a question of church and state, a constitutional matter. Is creationism a science or a religious view? The court has said it is a religious view and as such can't be taught in public schools.

You're correct. However, it seems to me that Black Dog's position isn't just that it shouldn't be taught in public schools, it's that the practice of religion, for whatever reasons, disgusts him, and he feels it's necessary to denigrate anyone goes to church on sunday, or to synagogue or mosque.

Well, maybe I just don't understand why I should give deference to silly superstitions

Well, you're certainly entitled to your opinion. However, it seems to me that your bordering awfully close to hate speech. Maybe that's just a little of the kook-left slipping out. Consider yourself forgiven.

[Black Dog]

You're correct. However, it seems to me that Black Dog's position isn't just that it shouldn't be taught in public schools, it's that the practice of religion, for whatever reasons, disgusts him, and he feels it's necessary to denigrate anyone goes to church on sunday, or to synagogue or mosque.

Reading is not your forte is it?

The beauty of a free society is that people are free to believe wheatever stupid crap they want and I am free to ridicule them. And I would never advocate the suppression of those beliefs except in such cases (as in the teaching of creationism in science class) where supernatural beliefs are imposed upon the secular sphere.

Well, you're certainly entitled to your opinion. However, it seems to me that your bordering awfully close to hate speech. Maybe that's just a little of the kook-left slipping out. Consider yourself forgiven

I thought your type didn't believe in the concept of "hate-speech". But then, chances are, it one of those terms you use because you've seen it used and not because you understand it (kinda like your repeated abuse of the term "ethnocentrism.")

[Shady]

Nope, I fully undersand the terms hate speech and ethnocentrism. And you exemplify both very well.