Survey says.

On a survey done in Britain over the weekend more than half of the respondents professed a belief in God. At the same time well over half also said that religion was "harmful!" (We have been saying that here all along!)

The YouGov poll commissioned by John Humphrys, the broadcaster and writer, found that 62% of the 2,200 people taking part considered religion had a harmful effect.

One reason might be the publicity attracted by a handful of mad mullahs and their hate-filled rhetoric, writes Humphrys in his new book, In God We Doubt, an extract of which appears in the Sunday Times News Review.

Only 16% of those polled called themselves atheists; 35% believed in God; 35% believed in something, but were not sure what; and 14% regarded themselves as agnostics - like Humphrys himself, who had a religious upbringing in Wales but calls himself a doubter.

He writes: Even though the dominant faith - by a massive margin is Christianity, only 17% thought the influence of religion was beneficial. That is even fewer than those who claim that they believe in a personal God. And yet when we asked which of the main religions was most effective in getting its message across, most thought it was Christianity. Only 10% cited Islam compared with 42% who said Christianity.

In the survey 52% said they never prayed, 38% hardly prayed, and 10% prayed every night.

More than half of those who say they believe in a personal God cannot be bothered to pray to him every night, writes Humphrys.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com

Saturday Morning Confusion (Pt 2)

Actually it's Saturday afternoon but the title was too good to pass up!

Cows:
Global warming IS a fact in spite of what the U.S. government says!

Being a City boy when I grew up, (Toronto) I didn't realize the impact farm animals have on the environment.

Listen to this! ALL the pollution caused by cars on Canadian highways, (about 150 mega-tons a year) is only three times as much as the greenhouse gasses caused by COWS!

No shit! (Or should I say fart!) In the overall ecological scheme of things, that means farmyard farting is contributing about as much heating of the planet as 1/3 of all the cars, trucks and buses in the country!

This means that those cows we see out in the fields are responsible for as much as 5% of all the overall greenhouse gas emissions produced domestically from all sources!

We don't need to sign no stinkin' Kyoto Accord!

Just get rid of the COWS!

Iraq:
Now, from the fart-fields of Canada to the real shit-fields of Iraq!

More resisters expected.
Patrick Maloney: The London Free Press

George W. Bush's plan to boost U.S. troop strength in Iraq has ratcheted up interest among American soldiers about defecting to Canada, local sympathizers say.

And one London woman hopes any who do come north will consider settling here.

"If the people are here, they need financial support and emotional and social support," Beth Guthrie said. "We want to create a community of support for people who are resisting the war in Iraq."

This weekend marks a key anniversary in the 1960s-era exodus of young American men to Canada to avoid serving in the Vietnam War.

Now, in a quiet echo of an earlier generation's anti-war sentiment, the War Resisters Support Campaign is noticing growing interest in Canada as a haven for U.S. soldiers otherwise destined for Iraq.

The group that usually gets five inquiries a month has had "several dozen" calls from soldiers since Bush unveiled his plan this month to deploy an extra 20,000 troops to Iraq.

Racism:
An overwhelming majority of Canadians are unwilling to bend laws to make room for cultural beliefs. These figures a Canadian but American attitudes wouldn't be all that different in the long run!

The hard-line attitude is revealed in a Sun Media poll conducted by Leger Marketing, which shows 78% of people from coast-to-coast say everyone must respect Canadian laws -- even if they clash with the cultural values they hold dear.

"The legal system is the legal system, and for a lot of Canadians that's the rule of thumb we live by," said Leger VP Dave Scholz. "If someone is moving to this country, they need to learn the legal system prior to being here."

Only 15% think Canada should adapt our legal system to make room for religious and cultural beliefs.

When it comes to the law's role in curbing racism, only one-third of Canadians believe uttering a racial slur should be a crime. Another 46% believe free speech should reign.

While the poll has shown that an overwhelming majority of Canadians women have a problem with a woman wearing a veil..... lots of men however, insist that people of different ethnic backgrounds enrich their lives -one way or another!

"But if all that means is going out for ethnic food on a Saturday night, that's not really being enriched," Scholz said. "Enriched means embracing all the cultural traditions of the new population coming in.

Everyone's view of enriching is different, but from the results we've seen, I don't think it's entirely embracing all aspects of an ethnic community. It's sort of temporarily embracing it at times."

While just over half of Canadians see racism as a problem in their city, only 32% think a vigorous fight is necessary to combat it. Half of us would be willing to sign a petition or report a racist incident, yet less than a quarter would actually put up cash for the fight to stop racism.

Scholz said that reflects a "head-in-the-sand" approach to a real problem.

"Most people think it's a problem that's going away, and to that end we don't think we feel need to personally finance the problem," Scholz said.

"We can report it to authorities, maybe we'll sign petitions, but we don't actually want to put any real drive behind it ... We're not fighting it. We're trying to hide or avoid it, even though we're seeing and hearing about it."

Like I said, from what I have seen, I don't think the results in the States would be that much different. Of course, if you disagree, just click on the comments section underneath!

Your "pollster type" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

What 2007 holds for the country.

I gave you my predictions for 2007 a few days ago. Now, these are among the findings of an Associated Press-AOL News poll that asked Americans to gaze into their crystal balls and contemplate what 2007 holds for America.

Another terrorist attack, a warmer planet, death and destruction from a natural disaster.

Six in 10 people think the U.S. will be the victim of another terrorist attack next year, more than five years after the Sept. 11 assault on New York and Washington. An identical percentage think it is likely that bad guys will unleash a biological or nuclear weapon elsewhere in the world.

Seventy percent of Americans predict another major natural disaster within the United States and an equal percentage expect worsening global warming. Fewer than one-third of people, or 29 percent, think it is likely that the U.S. will withdraw its troops from Iraq.

But on a brighter note, only a minority of people think the U.S. will go to war with Iran or North Korea over the countries' nuclear ambitions and a third of people see hope for a cure to cancer.

NOW BOYS AND GIRLS, HERE COMES THE SCARY PART:

One in four, or 25 percent, anticipates the Second Coming!

What make this so scary is not the fact that the Second Coming will occur - NO, the scary part is that 25% of Americans BELIEVE IT!

On a couple of side notes here:

1. These people don't have to worry about how many shopping days left till next Christmas and;
2. I still vividly recall when I was twelve years old in 1960 our next door neighbour (who was a heavy-duty Catholic) told me that the world would end that year!
She was just like any other “End of the World” adherent, still trying, after 2000 years, to experience the rapture! All she managed to do was scare the crap out of a kid - me!

Your "pass the kool-aid" scribe;
Allan W Janssen