Freethought & Rationalism Archive

EverLastingGodStopper · 10-10-2007, 11:05 AM

The Association of Religion Data Archive, henceforth to be called "TARD Archive," is a very interesting site with tons of data about faith, dogma, supernatural belief, etc.

http://www.thearda.com/

Quote:

Providing free access to quality data on religion

The ARDA allows you to interactively explore the highest quality data on American and international religion using online features for generating national profiles, maps, church membership overviews, denominational heritage trees, tables, charts, and other summary reports. Over 350 data files are available for online preview and most can be downloaded for additional research.

The ARDA? I'm sticking with "TARD Archive."

Specific stats on beliefs can be found here: http://www.thearda.com/Quickstats/Qsdir.asp

I hope some of you find this useful... if not frustrating, frightening, and downright depressing.

earljail · 10-10-2007, 12:06 PM

Thanks, that's very interesting. Agree about the depressing aspect.
I'll bookmark it.

Von Zipper · 10-10-2007, 01:20 PM

This can't be right, surely? 43% of Americans think demons "absolutely" exist? 65% think it's at least probable? More than 70% think that Satan probably exists?

EverLastingGodStopper · 10-10-2007, 01:30 PM

I don't know the source of the data, I didn't investigate the site. I just thought it was interesting. Different than Adherents.com.

Von Zipper · 10-10-2007, 01:42 PM

Well it's certainly interesting, but some of those percentages seem a little inflated. Over half of Americans think evolution is false according to them, whereas I thought it was more around the 40% mark (which is still incredibly, unbelievably awful indication of scientific literacy for a developed country).

I was pleased to see UFO-belief stats next to God-belief stats, though. I'd certainly put them in the same category.

lpetrich · 10-10-2007, 02:39 PM

There are some interesting trends in those poll numbers:

Religious skepticism increases with:
Increasing education
Increasing income
Decreasing age
Decreasing church attendance
Gender sequence: female - male
Marital-status sequence: widowed, married - divorced/separated - living together, never married
Race sequence: black - white - other
Political-ideology sequence: conservative - moderate - liberal
Vote-in-2004 sequence: Bush - other - Kerry

Which makes me wonder when the atheist-bashers are going to start an "atheism is bourgeois and elitist and white-male" meme.

NRP · 10-10-2007, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EverLastingGodStopper

Specific stats on beliefs can be found here: http://www.thearda.com/Quickstats/Qsdir.asp

I hope some of you find this useful... if not frustrating, frightening, and downright depressing.

If you compare belief in angels vs. demons and heaven vs. hell you can see that more people believe in the former than the latter. Apparently there are people who blieve in angels but not demons, in heaven but not hell. That has "wishful thinking" written all over it.

EverLastingGodStopper · 10-10-2007, 06:08 PM

I don't call it "TARD Archive" for nothin'.

the Radio Star · 10-10-2007, 06:17 PM

I don't know if these are reliable because not everyone is honest about their beliefs. I probably wouldn't be honest about my religion on the US Census because I wouldn't want someone 80+ years in the future thinking that I'm burning in hell, especially if they're related to me.

EverLastingGodStopper · 10-10-2007, 09:13 PM

Uh, Census data isn't released to other individuals in your family.

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10-10-2007, 12:06 PM	#2
earljail Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: BC, Canada Posts: 779	Thanks, that's very interesting. Agree about the depressing aspect. I'll bookmark it.

10-10-2007, 01:20 PM	#3
Von Zipper Regular Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: London Posts: 347	This can't be right, surely? 43% of Americans think demons "absolutely" exist? 65% think it's at least probable? More than 70% think that Satan probably exists?

10-10-2007, 01:30 PM	#4
EverLastingGodStopper Banned Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 16,665	I don't know the source of the data, I didn't investigate the site. I just thought it was interesting. Different than Adherents.com.

10-10-2007, 01:42 PM	#5
Von Zipper Regular Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: London Posts: 347	Well it's certainly interesting, but some of those percentages seem a little inflated. Over half of Americans think evolution is false according to them, whereas I thought it was more around the 40% mark (which is still incredibly, unbelievably awful indication of scientific literacy for a developed country). I was pleased to see UFO-belief stats next to God-belief stats, though. I'd certainly put them in the same category.

10-10-2007, 02:39 PM	#6
lpetrich Contributor Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Lebanon, OR, USA Posts: 16,829	There are some interesting trends in those poll numbers: Religious skepticism increases with: Increasing education Increasing income Decreasing age Decreasing church attendance Gender sequence: female - male Marital-status sequence: widowed, married - divorced/separated - living together, never married Race sequence: black - white - other Political-ideology sequence: conservative - moderate - liberal Vote-in-2004 sequence: Bush - other - Kerry Which makes me wonder when the atheist-bashers are going to start an "atheism is bourgeois and elitist and white-male" meme.

10-10-2007, 06:08 PM	#8
EverLastingGodStopper Banned Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 16,665	I don't call it "TARD Archive" for nothin'.

10-10-2007, 06:17 PM	#9
the Radio Star Banned Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: IL Posts: 978	I don't know if these are reliable because not everyone is honest about their beliefs. I probably wouldn't be honest about my religion on the US Census because I wouldn't want someone 80+ years in the future thinking that I'm burning in hell, especially if they're related to me.

10-10-2007, 09:13 PM	#10
EverLastingGodStopper Banned Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 16,665	Uh, Census data isn't released to other individuals in your family.

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