[ernie]

Originally posted by RougeUnderoos@Apr 6 2005, 12:54 PM
So let me get this straight -- believing the world is 10 thousand years old is not stupid, but saying it's stupid is stupid? Interesting.

That intense belief is not going to trump all for a large percentage of the population because a large percentage of the population doesn't believe it. A large percentage of the Christian population doesn't even believe it.

Do you think he gets ridiculed and mocked for his belief because most people agree with him?

So let me get this straight -- believing the world is 10 thousand years old is not stupid, but saying it's stupid is stupid? Interesting.

Perhaps stupid is the wrong term. Ignorant would perhaps be better. But it's not really whether you think it's stupid or not its more about you not respecting someones religious beliefs just because YOU don't think his view of things makes sense. As I mentioned there are many many many many very intelligent researchers that believe the same thing. That do indeed believe a literal translation of the bible. It may not make "sense" to you or me but they certainly aren't stupid people for believing that and I'm certainly not going to dismiss their thoughts or ideas on other subjects just because they have such a strong belief.

That intense belief is not going to trump all for a large percentage of the population because a large percentage of the population doesn't believe it. A large percentage of the Christian population doesn't even believe it.

You may be interested in this little tidbit. It's an american survey done in Feb of last year. This comes from the Washington Times.

An ABC News poll released Sunday found that 61 percent of Americans believe the account of creation in the Bible's book of Genesis is "literally true" rather than a story meant as a "lesson.

..........The poll found that 75 percent of Protestants believed in the story of creation, 79 percent in the Red Sea account and 73 percent in Noah and the ark.
Among evangelical Protestants, those figures were 87 percent, 91 percent and 87 percent, respectively. Among Catholics, they were 51 percent, 50 percent and 44 percent.

Survey

I couldn't find the similar canadian survey that I have seen . I expect the numbers do differ from the american one however there is certainly not just a large percentage of US Christians that take the meaning of the bible as literal but a large portion of the US population. The canadian numbers may be quite different I don't know but I certainly expect a large chunk of the population would indeed believe the same thing, especially among the practicing christians. The bible is still taught as literal in a good chunk of the churches now and when I was growing up. The allegory nature of the bible has not been around in active church teachings until very recently and I think you'll find that it has not gained acceptance into the mainstream christian churches yet.

Note large chunk does not = majority. If I wanted to imply majority I would have said as much.

Do you think he gets ridiculed and mocked for his belief because most people agree with him?

No I think it's because some can't understand why he would believe what he does and are so ignorant and small-minded that they feel it necessary to ridicule and mock him for HIS intensely PERSONAL beliefs for the simple reason that his beliefs do not agree with their own. And to go further dismiss the person that is a literal creationist as a stupid person that can have no valuable input in other areas. Look around your neighbourhood, look at your profs (science or otherwise), look at your peers (not just friends) and among them you will find many literal creationists who are quite intelligent.

Now of course it goes both ways...I have very little time for small-minded religious folks who dismiss others just because they have different religious beliefs. I don't know Stockwell Day personally though I've talked to him on a few occassions (including a converstaion on this topic) and he has never come across to me as unaccepting of others just because they don't believe what he believes, though he absolutely wears his christianity on his sleeve as it is a huge part of his life.