What Americans see for 2007 an AP poll....

[BrandiOK]

I won't go into all the specifics but this Associated Press/AOL News poll showed a few statistics I found disturbing on many levels LOL.

1.  35 percent predict a cure for cancer will be found.
2.  25 percent anticipate the second coming of Jesus Christ.
3.  19 percent think scientists are likely to find evidence of extraterrestrial life.

I wonder if they polled all americans or just government officials?

[cindianna_jones]

So Brandi,

What is disturbing about these?  I can see a lot of problems in the predictions to be sure, but I'm not sure what is unsettling.

Cindi

[Steph]

To give the poll any credence I think it would be important to see the questions asked to get those results.  I guess some would consider it would be scary if the question asked was "What do you see as the top three events for 2007" and 25% anticipate the second coming.

Steph

[cindianna_jones]

Yea Steph, that has some unsettling qualities to it.  My response to this has always been, let's just wait and see.  

As for the cancer thing... we make advances on that every year now.  In some cancers, they are almost 100 percent treatable if caught in time.  A cure?  We are getting there faster than most people realize.  What I'd like to see is a prevention so we don't get it in the first place!

Life outside the planet?  I think that it is out there.  But we need to do some exploring if we are ever going to find it.  We aren't doing much of that these days.  I sure wish we could spend money on making exploratory rockets instead of on destructive weapons.

Cindi

[BrandiOK]

  It's not so much that I believe none of these things could happen but the fact that so many people believe they WILL happen in the coming year.  It seems unrealistic to me....while I'm not going to bash religion because I certainly respect everyones beliefs but I'm disturbed that 25% believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ will occur this year. Let's face it...those kinds of views are generally held by ultra conservative christians (we are all painfully aware of ultra conservative doctrine) and if "statistically" they hold 25% of the polling population it's scary to me. 

  That cancer will be cured this coming year? Seriously, while there have been many advances in research we are, realistically, decades or more away from a cure to cancer and yet 35% of the pollees believe it will be cured this year.  I would be curious to see what the statistics would have shown for people who believe in the Easter bunny.

  Short of being visited by E.T. there is almost zero chance that we will find evidence of extraterrestrial life this year.  We aren't actively seeking it except by private organizations such as SETI ( I do love those SETI folks) so how will this happen?  The Mars expedition has been a huge success however short of snapping a pic of life on the hot planet that's not gonna provide any evidence.  I'm sure I'll get corrected on this considering the number of amateur astronomers we have here but I'm doing the best I can LOL.

  Let's look at some disturbing possibilities that have actual scientific background.

1.  It is a fact that we will eventually be struck by a "rogue" asteroid which will destroy life on Earth if it still exists.
2.  It is a fact that a "gamma ray burst" from the destruction of a star will eventually destroy life on Earth if it still exists.
3.  It is a fact that the countries of Earth have in stockpile enough nuclear weapons to destroy the Earth 7 times over and much of these weapons are held by unstable governments.
4.  It is a fact that the sun will eventually burn itself out and all life on Earth will end if it still exists.

  So yeah...I have a pretty dismal view of life, I admit it.  I do, however, try to base my views on realism despite it's overall depressing nature.  I wish I had a rosy portrait of life that I could march towards but I don't.  Realism is something that was drummed into me at a very young age and many nightmares later it continues to hold true whether I want to believe in it or not.

 

[RebeccaFog]

Hi Brandi,

   Don't sweat it. Things aren't that bad, they're worse!!!

   I'm just kidding. most of what each of us worry about are really just things beyond our control. I try to keep all of my personal anxieties as close to myself as possible. Why should I worry about an asteroid hitting Earth? There are people somewhere working on it and if they fail, so what? It hasn't happened yet, so why worry? If I was in a position to stop a crazy asteroid, then I would put some energy into concern over it.

   As for the 2nd coming of Christ. That happened long ago, but Christ got ignored and decided to go back to heaven. Besides, he looks like a Palestinian and couldn't get a cab.


Love,

Becky (of the flying beckys)

[tinkerbell]

1.  35 percent predict a cure for cancer will be found.
2.  25 percent anticipate the second coming of Jesus Christ.
3.  19 percent think scientists are likely to find evidence of extraterrestrial life.

Hey how come what I anticipated is not on that list?  Okay, I anticipate that a pill will be created that will let you change your "gender"   in seven days....

tinkerbell

[cindianna_jones]

Here's the one that gets me steamed....  The ultra conservative religious fight tooth and nail against research yet expect us to find a cure for <fill in the blank>.  I get a kick out of people who give all the credit to god when they successfully leave the hospital and nothing to their surgeon or those who researched the path for the success.  Call me a pessimist... but I just don't get it.

Yea Rebecca... if Christ were to come again, we'd not accept him.  He very likely had dark hair, brown skin, and dark eyes.  He'd be Jewish too.  Nail that one to your cross.

And no, we won't be finding life off planet this year.  Don'tchya know that we are going to Mars, according to Mr. Bush.  Effective research missions have been cut to fund the Mars mission.  It'll never fly.  The money won't go to it.  It is being spent along with our retirement on a war.

Cindi

[LostInTime]

Polls are always suspect until proven otherwise.  What parts of the country were polled?  What was the question?  Were the answers from a selection or is this specifically what they said?  How many people?  Median age?  Education level?

[Suzy]

It would be really cool if all of those things happened.  Do I expect any of them?  Nope!

"Yea Rebecca... if Christ were to come again, we'd not accept him.  He very likely had dark hair, brown skin, and dark eyes.  He'd be Jewish too.  Nail that one to your cross."

I have no doubt that you are right, Cindi, that if Christ came back we'd not accept him.  He would do what he did before, hang around with people whom the rest of society rejected, people who needed some good news.  THOSE people accepted him.  And he would not look like that blue eyed dirty blond Jesus whose snap shot hangs in most churches.  Christendom today has a sanitized version of who Jesus is and was.  But the true Jesus bears little resemblance to the one on most altars.  I look forward to his return, just to watch the astounded faces of the religious.

[Melissa]

It would be really cool if all of those things happened.  Do I expect any of them?  Nope!

"Yea Rebecca... if Christ were to come again, we'd not accept him.  He very likely had dark hair, brown skin, and dark eyes.  He'd be Jewish too.  Nail that one to your cross."

I have no doubt that you are right, Cindi, that if Christ came back we'd not accept him.  He would do what he did before, hang around with people whom the rest of society rejected, people who needed some good news.  THOSE people accepted him.  And he would not look like that blue eyed dirty blond Jesus whose snap shot hangs in most churches.  Christendom today has a sanitized version of who Jesus is and was.  But the true Jesus bear little resemblance to the one on most altars.  I look forward to his return, just to watch the astounded faces of the religious.

Yes and I believe it will be these ultra-conservative christians who are going to be the first to reject him and treat him as an outcast to society.  In other words, they are behaving in exactly the same manner as those who originally crucified him and they would tell you they were doing it in the name of Jesus.  How's that for irony?

Melissa

[Hazumu]

...but the Christian Conservatives (or Conservative Christians, if you like,) see absolutely no contradiction in their world view.  Every thing they believe makes perfect sense to them, and telling them they're being contradictory and thus hypocritical falls on deaf(ened) ears, and to call them this is preaching only to the choir.

Up to 40% of the population will hold these views unshakably.  If they wish to believe god cured them of the operable brain tumor as they exit the hospital in a wheelchair with head swathed in gauze, if they wish to espouse that god allowed the attack on America in September 01 because god is angry that we as a nation have strayed from the straight-and-narrow by permitting deviants to exist in society (even to coddling them by acquiescing to their so-called 'rights',) then we shouldn't waste any effort trying to convert the unconvertable, but spend our time working to, wherever possible, contain and limit the damage they cause.

Yeah, 25% believing Christ will return.  I bet they wouldn't reject Jesus if he showed up in a pinstripe power suit with white shirt and red amoebas-on-acid tie, clean shaven and with a neat haircut, and calling all christians to kick some deviant unbelieving butt!

I'm reminded of a bumper sticker I once saw--

"Jesus is coming -- and, boy, is he pissed!!"

Karen

[Melissa]

This reminds me of a song from a few years back.

If God was one of us
Joan Osbourne

If God had a name, what would it be
And would you call it to his face
If you were faced with him in all his glory
What would you ask if you had just one question

And yeah yeah God is great yeah yeah God is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home

If God had a face what would it look like
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in jesus and the saints and all the prophets

And yeah yeah god is great yeah yeah god is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
He's trying to make his way home
Back up to heaven all alone
Nobody calling on the phone
Except for the pope maybe in rome

And yeah yeah God is great yeah yeah God is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if god was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
Just trying to make his way home
Like a holy rolling stone
Back up to heaven all alone
Just trying to make his way home
Nobody calling on the phone
Except for the pope maybe in rome

Melissa

[RebeccaFog]

  I used to think that I always missed half of that song because, as a child of the Zimmerman, I sometimes expect 2 million different words in a song.  The lyrics show that I had heard correctly, though.

  I really like that song. I loved the montage that used it at the beginning of that TV show (which I can't remember the title of because my head is filled with over 2 million words from song lyrics X 8300).

  Treat everyone as though they were the most important person in the universe.

Love & Death,

Becky

[RebeccaFog]

I'm reminded of a bumper sticker I once saw--

"Jesus is coming -- and, boy, is he pissed!!"

Karen

Or...

   "Jesus is coming -- and this time, it's personal!"

*This joke is nonaffiliated with Mel Gibson and people who look like Mel Gibson due to a terrible birth defect which somehow happens to cause them to be Mel Gibson.

[LostInTime]

I tend to think of a few of the jokes Sam Kinnison used to make.  One in particular had God asking Jesus if he was ready to go back down to earth and bring peace.  The response was along the lines of "as soon as I can play the piano again...I am the only person who can use their hand as a whistle."  of course he used more colorful language. 

[Suzy]

Well I certainly stand by what I said, but I need to make something very clear.  There are many in society who are conservative both in politics and theology.  But among Christendom in America theological conservatism and political conservatism do not necessarily equate.  I know of some who are theologically very liberal but rather conservative in their politics.  While this seems to me an oxymoron, I have met these folks.  And conversely, I know of some who are theologically very conservative, and politically very liberal.  This makes more sense to me.  The reason for this is that, theologically speaking, conservatism/liberalism is primarily a label for how one interprets the Bible.  Especially, it relates to how literally one believes it to be God's word.  Political liberalism is not based on biblical interpretation, but primarily on the perceived role of the government. 

OK, all of this to say that we have to be careful when we use stereotypes.  There are many who are theologically very conservative who would agree with you politically a lot more than you might think.  And beware of who you consider allies.  The media would like to paint all Christians as part of the Religious Right.  But this is not true.  I say this not to bash anyone, for I do believe that the freedom to believe as we choose is the greatest thing we could ever desire, and the real strength of this nation.

The only ones Jesus condemned (and he had more than ample opportunities to condemn lots of people) were the Parisees and the Saducees, the religious of his day who thought they knew all about God.  But their actions and their rigid laws had turned their lives to mere religiosity.  They thought they did not need God.  But those in the trenches of life knew differently.  They knew they were messed up and needed good news.  Not one of those people (who would probably not be welcome in some churches today) was ever rejected by Jesus.  Likewise I really do not want to have any part of a church whose primary empasis is on putting people through a mold and making outwardly pious cold-hearted frauds.  My church proudly proclaims itself to be "A hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints."  If you know you are needy and that God created all people as valuable unique individuals, you are welcome.

Sorry about the long rant.  But it reminds me of what happened recently in Poland.  I find it rather amusing and ironic.  It seems that lawmakers "have drawn up a resolution naming Jesus Christ as the honorary king of Poland, but have failed to win support from the country's powerful Roman Catholic church.  Lawmakers for the ruling Law and Justice party and League of Polish Families as well as the opposition Peasants Party back the resolution, said Szymon Ruman, spokesman for parliamentary speaker Marek Jurek."
For the entire article see here:
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/16894/lawmakers-propose-making-jesus-honorary-king-of-poland

[Brianna]

Hmmm.... these are my predictions for 2007.

1. The Republican-created civil war in Iraq will start World War III, reigniting the crusades.
2. The US will continue it's fall as a superpower, causing our military and economic might to be crushed.
3. The middle class will continue to lose jobs and earnings thanks to Republican policies that favor the rich.
4. Our health care system will continue to deteriorate thanks to Republican policies that favor the rich.
5. Christians will get even more obese and blame the top four on gay rights.

Bri

[beth]

I agree Kristi.


                           Free thinking individuals can be christian and liberal.  Kool-aid drinkers of either of the two flavors have trouble with this concept though.




beth                 

[Suzy]

Kool Aid drinkers?   LOL!!!!!!!!!  Great metaphor.  I haven't heard that one before.

I Like this song:

Radical Man                   

Well they called Him the rebel-rousin' radical man. Loved a party. Loved his friends.Laughed with joy. Surprised the sad. Made all the self-righteous people mad.
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh! (Yes!) The rebel-rousin' radical man.
Oh yeah! The rebel-rousin' radical man.

Verse 1
Healed the sick, raised the dead, irritated people with the truth He said
Upset their religious plans. Painted God with a human hand.
"Outside things will pass away. Concentrate on what will stay."
"Love your enemies, feed the poor." Radical man said, "I'm the door..."

Verse 2
"Do to others what you want from them. Forgive each other, don't condemn.
A greedy attitude will never last. Kingdom of God is for those who ask.
People come before material things." We're not puppets on anyone's string.
Live like a child," by my side. "Come be happy, no need to hide."

Verse 3
"Love your neighbor as yourself. Don't hoard money, for power and wealth.
First look at your own mistakes, not the speck in another's face.
Gave His body, gave His blood, stirred us up to feel His love.
Whatever you do, you do to me. Celebrate life, you are free.

Copyright 1992 by Yohann Anderson

Kristi