The Nature of Things

What is the most dangerous group, the one most likely to commit acts of terrorism in America? One guess. Hat tip to Daily Kos for the cartoon.

Religion continues to be a flashpoint of disagreement among Americans, who often seem to have very fixed, deeply entrenched opinions about what religion is and how religious people should behave. But how much do we really know about religion, especially religions other than our own? Not much, according to a poll conducted by Pew Research Center in 2010. I wrote a blog post about their findings in October of that year. Sadly, the findings still seem relevant today. *~*~*~* Are Americans dummies about religion? Y ou probably have seen or heard about the  recent story regarding a poll   done by the Pew Research Center to ascertain Americans' knowledge about the world's religions. (Nicholas Kristof had a   column about the story  in   The Times  a couple of days ago in which he included an abbreviated version of the poll.) The results of the poll are a mixed bag and are complicated by several factors, but the bottom line is that Americans really  don't ...

I just watched Pope Francis' arrival in Washington on television. It seemed like a thoroughly joyous occasion.  Pope Francis is very easy to like. He seems like a truly humble and down-to-earth man, one who carries his dogma lightly and who truly tries to embody the teachings of Jesus in his actions toward others. He has put a much kinder and gentler face on Catholicism, even as much of the antiquated belief system of the Church - no women priests and little involvement of women in the running of the church; celibacy for priests, making it impossible for them ever to fully understand the day-to-day lives and concerns of most of their parishioners; antipathy to modern contraception methods and no tolerance for abortions, to name only a few issues - remains unchanged. Nevertheless, Francis has made his Church a more open and accepting place, and displaying that attitude has made him one of the most admired people in the world. So, now, here he is in our country where we are currently...

The Pew Research Center is a respected non-profit organization that regularly polls Americans on a variety of subjects. They also have devised several online quizzes that we can take to find out just how smart we are about particular subjects. They are fun and instructive and even ego-boosting if you happen to do well on them. I've taken some of the quizzes before, but I was reminded of them when I read the Bad Astronomy blog today. The subject of the blog was the tests on science and religion. The results from those who have taken the tests seem to indicate that - surprise! - Americans know more about science than they do religion. The bad news is they don't know much about either. Now, these tests are pretty simple and are based on general knowledge that any reasonably well-read adult should have. They are brief - one has 13 questions and one has 15 - and only take a few minutes to complete. At the end, you get to see your results and how you ranked among others who have t...

The Gallup pollsters periodically query the nation on a number of different issues. One of them is the question of religion. Their purpose is to determine the importance of religion in the lives of Americans and to  rate the various states on their religiosity .  To that end, they have interviewed thousands of people across the country, at least a thousand in every state except two and in the District of Columbia. The results of their latest surveys were  published last week. So, what are the most religious states in the country? State                                                           % report religion very important Mississippi                                                         ...

It is axiomatic that when you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you should do is stop digging. But some people never learn. High on the list of those who have trouble learning to put down the shovel are politicians. It seems to be deep within their DNA to believe that if they just keep on shoveling the same old BS that eventually they will fill the hole up and be able to climb out on top. It never works. The latest example of this is Rick Santorum . Over the weekend, Santorum appeared at right-winger Tony Perkins' home church where he was introduced by a pastor named Dennis Terry. Pastor Terry, in his introduction, went into a long rant about how this is a Christian nation and there is no room for anyone who isn't Christian. All liberals, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, atheists, in short anyone who doesn't accept Jesus as a personal saviour should "Get out!" When he finished his rant, Santorum applauded him and he's been trying to explain that applause ever ...