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4 in 10 say recent natural disasters are evidence the world is coming to an end.

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  • 4 in 10 say recent natural disasters are evidence the world is coming to an end.

    What's your take?


    A new poll finds that four in 10 people surveyed in the United States say recent natural disasters are evidence the world is coming to an end.

    CHICAGO — Nearly four in 10 U.S. residents say the severity of recent natural disasters such as Superstorm Sandy is evidence the world is coming to an end, as predicted by the Bible, while more than six in 10 blame it on climate change, according to a poll released Thursday.

    The survey by the Public Religion Research Institute in partnership with the Religion News Service found political and religious disagreement on what is behind severe weather, which this year has included extreme heat and drought.

    Most Catholics (60 percent) and white non-evangelical Protestants (65 percent) say they believe disasters like hurricanes and floods are the result of climate change.

    But nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of white evangelical Protestants say they think the storms are evidence of the "end times" as predicted by the Bible.

    Overall, 36 percent point to end times and 63 percent to climate change.

    PRRI research director Daniel Cox said that some respondents — including 75 percent of non-white Protestants — believe extreme weather is both evidence of end times and the result of climate change.

    "No one really knows how (end times) would look and how God would bring it about," Cox said.

    Politics also color perceptions of the weather, the survey found. More than three-quarters of Democrats and six in 10 independents believe that the weather has become more extreme over the last few years, while less than half of Republicans say they have perceived such a shift.

    "Their political leanings are even affecting how they experience weather, which is pretty fascinating," said Cox.

    The January-to-November period in the United States this year was the warmest first 11 months of any year on record for the contiguous states. And 2012 will likely surpass 1998 as the warmest year on record for the nation, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

    Most climate scientists believe that the warming trend for the nation and the world is tied to human activity, such as the burning of fossil fuels.

    Extreme storms like Sandy, along with more intense droughts, wildfires and floods, are projected by some as the result of climate change, though scientists are reluctant to attribute individual events to global warming.

    The PRRI survey found that while there is disagreement about the causes of global warming, there is widespread agreement about the need for action.

    Two-thirds of Americans say the U.S. government should do more to address climate change, including most of those who believe global warming is due to natural weather patterns, the survey found.

    It also found that 15 percent of Americans believe that the end of the world, as predicted by the New Testament's Book of Revelation, will occur in their lifetime. Some 2 percent believe that the end of the world, as predicted by the ancient Mayans, will occur by the end of this year.

    Some people who say they believe in end times do not act on that belief in their everyday lives, said Cal Jillson, political science professor at Southern Methodist University.

    "I think that's their way of expressing a deep commitment to Biblical literalism," said Jillson. "If you sat down with them and said, 'Do you really think that within the next few years we'll experience the end times?' they probably don't. ... A good number of these people are saving for retirement."

    The survey of 1,018 adults was conducted Dec. 5-9. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
    Buy the ticket, take the ride.

  • #2
    When I look around me on any given day, especially when on the bus, shopping at Walmart, etc... I'd say at least 40% - and probably much more, actually - of the people around me have a lower IQ, much less education, read a WHOLE lot less, and are generally much less aware of what's going on in the world.

    Not saying I'm some kind of genius, 'cause I certainly ain't. But there you go. :)

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    • #3
      I was just gonna go with something along the lines of 4 out of 10 people are morons, but I realized A) That's too broad and inclusive, and B) the number is probably much higher than 4 out of 10, unfortunately...
      Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

      Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by DPrime View Post
        When I look around me on any given day, especially when on the bus, shopping at Walmart, etc... I'd say at least 40% - and probably much more, actually - of the people around me have a lower IQ, much less education, read a WHOLE lot less, and are generally much less aware of what's going on in the world.

        Not saying I'm some kind of genius, 'cause I certainly ain't. But there you go. :)

        What are they doing for you to come to that conclusion? As I wander the towns and cities of Britain I wish to use your observations to see if the people of Britain are also showing these worrying signs. ;)

        Comment


        • #5
          Some 2 percent believe that the end of the world, as predicted by the ancient Mayans, will occur by the end of this year.
          Such people are going to feel really stupid in a few weeks.
          “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

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          • #6
            Attached Files
            Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

            Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

            Comment


            • #7
              Eh after Y2K, 6/6/06, and the past week of finals, this one just seems like one more apocalypse to survive :)
              "Draft beer, not people."

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              • #8
                Finals don't come around until end of January, but I've got a particularly apocalyptic midterm on Tuesday...
                Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by dave lukins View Post
                  What are they doing for you to come to that conclusion? As I wander the towns and cities of Britain I wish to use your observations to see if the people of Britain are also showing these worrying signs. ;)
                  Heh, more of an art than science, I suppose. Just hearing people speaking in public, that sort of thing. I can't really pin it all down.

                  Heh, maybe I'm just a bit of a snob.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Red Team View Post
                    Eh after Y2K, 6/6/06, and the past week of finals, this one just seems like one more apocalypse to survive :)
                    just turned in my final paper of my last full semester. Need one more class in the spring to graduate.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by dave lukins View Post
                      What are they doing for you to come to that conclusion? As I wander the towns and cities of Britain I wish to use your observations to see if the people of Britain are also showing these worrying signs. ;)
                      Go to peopleofwalmart.com for a doctoral level education in the subject.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by TopHatter View Post
                        Such people are going to feel really stupid in a few weeks.
                        I'm gonna laugh at you so hard when the world ends on Dec. 21 and we all die...
                        "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by gunnut View Post
                          I'm gonna laugh at you so hard when the world ends on Dec. 21 and we all die...
                          So will I
                          “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            7 weeks ago, I was at Chichen Itza (the first time ever with a tour guide) and the first thing out of her mouth was, "The world is not going to end on Dec. 21. I have been asked this literally hundreds of times by Americans. If one of you ask me that, I'm going to take you up there (pointing to a structure) and do what they did inthe old days".

                            She was smiling but you could tell it bothered her greatly to be asked.that question over and over.

                            Sorry gunnut, you're out of luck.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Why you didn't ask her? Why?
                              No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

                              To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

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