Survey Said: Green Mtn State Least Religious

[drogulus]

Another skewed survey.

     Yes, if you want to get a meaningful result you have to ask several questions. What you want is to find out the difference between nominal affiliation and active participation. You have to put a crowbar between belief and belief in belief, belief that something exists versus belief that it's good for the wife and kids.

     People who say yes to spirituality but no to religion might be compared to the New England Transcendentalists of the 19th century. You'd think I'd shrink in horror at such a comparison but really, a little reading will tell that they were just as clueless about what they believed as the modern ones. What they really asserted was their own autonomy rather than any substance, and that's a good thing in itself. So, full points for independence of mind and demerits for not having one.

     The minds that the spiritualists didn't have were had instead by a generation of philosophers we now call the pragmatists, the American successors to the British Empiricists. I recommend this book by Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club. It's about what Americans really believe and why. I'm talking about people who effectively believe things as opposed to people who can manage to answer a poll question.

     

[Lilas Pastia]

This is interesting, thanks.

I have a hard time with all those little vials with a neat 'ism' label affixed on them. I hinted at this when talking about the Lake and the mountains. Many people have a very deep love of Nature that is rooted in spirituality. Or vice versa. Since the dawn of humanity there's always been a strong connection between the two. Religion is but a practical mean to identify and codify the various aspects of spirituality. Organized religion is the ultimate step, an attempt to strengthen ties between smaller cells. It helps to preserve a sense of identity between communities that are separated by distance (a good example being the Early Church). When those smaller cells form a homogeneous social tissue (one country, one religion), it can evolve into a social tyrant. Back to the question: because of the implied social tenets it can have very different implications from one region to the other. That's why I think it's a bad survey. Even worse are the conclusions drawn by Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of The Gallup Poll.

[drogulus]

Or vice versa.

    I'm glad you said it, or glad you said it.

    It's priggish of me, I know, to think most people unqualified to have beliefs, especially since I know they can't be stopped saying they do, then demonstrating they can't really manage it. For instance, for many people spirituality amounts to thinking there's something "out there", a real life convergence of persons and the Homer Simpson caricature of them.

    Last night on SNL there was a charming skit in which Steve Martin is watching the Super Bowl in a bar and decides that the game ought to be decided by a panel including a pile of his dirty laundry and a cardboard cutout of a pile of his dirty laundry. Way to go, Steve!