An Enigma

[Friends just call me Ross]

 

e·nig·ma

iˈniɡmə/

noun

 

1. a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand.
2.  

 

My atheist hubby listens to NPR (the U.S.'s National Public Radio station) religiously.

 

On 'Morning Edition' today, there was a piece on a Pew Poll that shows Americans

are steadily moving away from religion.

 

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/11/03/454063182/poll-finds-americans-especially-millennials-moving-away-from-religion

 

I went to the Pew Research site and found an enigma.  

It's in one of their poll's 'Infographics'.

(I have highlighted the enigma part.)

I was not surprised that Jehovah's Witnesses ranked highest,

in their belief that the Bible is God's Word.  

What I found puzzling was that the belief wasn't 100%.       

The only explanations for how there can be ANY percentage

of Jehovah's Witnesses who do NOT believe

'All Scripture Is Inspired of God', that I can come up with,

is that the ones who answered no were just studying with us

and hadn't made up their minds yet,

or they were lying to the pollsters about their religious affiliation.

 

Anybody else care to shed some light on this enigma

from the world of Public Opinion Polls?  

 

http://www.pewforum.org/2015/11/03/u-s-public-becoming-less-religious/pf-2015-11-03_rls_ii-33/

 

From Pew...to you.

 

 

[trottigy]

Sometimes it is the exact wording of a question that throws people off. For example - if I asked in a poll here:

 

Who wrote the Bible?

 

A. God

B. Men

C. Angels

D. I don't know

 

I think we would get the same percentages. People often read too much into a question being asked. They think - well the CORRECT is answer is MAN - since he wrote it and God inspired it - so, I go with B. Men

 

This is why much time is actually spent in working up the questions to be asked, but even then there will be some that try to read what they THINK you are asking versus what you are ACTUALLY asking.

 

note: My wife does that often. I'll ask - "Have you seen my keys?" and she'll say, "I din't touch them!" ?????? The question wasn't - "Did you MOVE them?" ONLY "Did you see them?" - as I am hoping she has and will point out where.   Any way - you get the idea.

 

PS - the question in that survey is "Is the Bible/ Quran/ Torah/ holy scripture word of God? Should it be taken literally, word for word?"

 

It does NOT show what their answer choices are, but I would guess - yes/ no and literal/ NOT literal

 

To me it is too long of a question and not quite grammatically correct - and so some will not answer correctly any way. 

Edited November 3, 2015 by trottigy

[Friends just call me Ross]

You make a good point about the 'Was the Bible written by God or by men?' question.

It leaves no room for the truth, which is that the Bible was written by men

AS THEY WERE BORNE ALONG BY GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT.

And, some parts of Scripture are literal and some parts are symbolic.  Again, confusing question

because it doesn't allow a truthful answer to be given.

 

But the question 'Do you believe the Bible is the word of God?' just requires a simple "Yes" or "No".

Nothing confusing about that question.  

In 2007, only 92% of those polled, who professed to be, a Witness of Jehovah, answered yes.

In 2014, it was up to 94%.

 

Which is the part of this whole poll thingy that I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around.   

How can it NOT be 100% "Yes!"?  

 

(I'm hoping somebody will come up with a key chain that has a 'Clapper' device on it.  )

[Tortuga]

(I'm hoping somebody will come up with a key chain that has a 'Clapper' device on it.  )

 

I'm hoping to throw away my keys and never find them again 

[niall]

What do they mean by "literally" the Word of God?

Does that mean that every word, the exact wording of each sentence, is from God? Or do they mean the ideas expressed? I'd answer "no" to the first and "yes" to the second.

Was it written by men? I'd answer "yes" to that also. Inspired by God; written by men using their own words and phrases.

The other thing is, how did they qualify a person's belonging to a specific group?

I know of one guy who studied the Bible for a month or two, then stopped. He was never Baptised and never approved for Field Service. But, he liked what he learned and would always state he was one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

I never trust polls or surveys. Statistics can be made to support just about anything.

I remember a survey that said something like "85% of people watch hard core porn on a regular basis." This was in the days before the Internet was popular. I though it was a bit odd, so I tracked down the original report. Turned out that this survey was taken at Sexpo. That's an expo for pornography, sex, and sex toys! That bit of info was left out of the news report.

[trottigy]

I appreciate that many do NOT like "statistics" or surveys - as there are errors. YES! There are and will always be errors. 

 

They key idea to remember about a survey - it is a method to determine a respondents answers and from there an ability to extrapolate for a larger group. BUT - regardless of errors - it is the TREND that is MOST important. I single survey tells us a little, but one done every month, quarter, year, etc - tells the rest of the story. Statistics are designed to show a TREND over time. Are more or less people seeing the Bible as "the Word of God".

 

The error rate is the same, but the # of yes and no will change as more and more people change their answers to these questions.

 

So looking at this survey - to me - the fact that the same # of JW's said Yes - is not significant, BUT the real # that stuck out is that over 3 TIMES as many ATHEIST than before feel the Bible is "the Word of God"   - Sure it went from ONLY 2% to 7% - but why the big jump???

 

I hope this shows what I mean by TREND - versus a single snap shot in time.

[Friends just call me Ross]

According to the Pew research site, this was a phone survey of 35,000+ people.

People could talk to the pollsters and tell them what their religion is.

People could also reply with answers that were outside of the question's parameters

and so were not recorded verbatim.  (Answer too long for the tiny space provided to record it. )

[niall]

So looking at this survey - to me - the fact that the same # of JW's said Yes - is not significant, BUT the real # that stuck out is that over 3 TIMES as many ATHEIST than before feel the Bible is "the Word of God" - Sure it went from ONLY 2% to 7% - but why the big jump???

I hope this shows what I mean by TREND - versus a single snap shot in time.

I'm a bit tired (finishing a 12 shift) , and I'm looking at this on a small phone screen, but it looks like the trend was down. From 7 to 2.

All those identifying as Christians had an increase over 2007. Of the other religions only the Muslims had an increase.

All others decreased.

[Friends just call me Ross]

 

 the real # that stuck out is that over 3 TIMES as many ATHEIST than before feel the Bible is "the Word of God"   - Sure it went from ONLY 2% to 7% - but why the big jump???

 

I hope this shows what I mean by TREND - versus a single snap shot in time.

 

The 2007 survey results are shown first on the chart.  

So the number of atheists who reportedly feel the Bible is from God actually took a big drop.

Yet another confusing thing about the Pew Research site.   

[Miss Bea]

I'm hoping to throw away my keys and never find them again 

Got a keyless car. I just keep the fob in my purse period. Have you any idea how that changed my life? (Sorry about going off topic, but the train was headed that way, and I jumped on)

As far as the survey, the results are based on WHO they ask. Period. So, unless that data base is solid, things can go askew really fast. Like the 60 Minute tv show on JW's and child custody. I will never trust one of those so called investigative shows as a result. Nevermind Leslie Stahl. It was so full of lies, and presented factual. In fact I needed to see such. It put the world's media where it belongs. In the garbage pail.

[trottigy]

I'm a bit tired (finishing a 12 shift) , and I'm looking at this on a small phone screen, but it looks like the trend was down. From 7 to 2.

All those identifying as Christians had an increase over 2007. Of the other religions only the Muslims had an increase.

All others decreased.

Thanks. Yes. I got the 2 dates backwards. It does make MORE sense that less atheist think the Bible is God's Word.

[kejedo]

That question was written quite poorly and in each year, the numbers in the JW column add up to 100 percent, and all of them could be considered correct. 

[Toy Poodles]

 

note: My wife does that often. I'll ask - "Have you seen my keys?" and she'll say, "I din't touch them!" ?????? The question wasn't - "Did you MOVE them?" ONLY "Did you see them?" - as I am hoping she has and will point out where.   Any way - you get the idea.

 

 

This is funny because this is exactly what I say to my husband. lol The thing is if I had touched them or moved them then I would know exactly where they are but if I just seen them then I have no clue where the keys are.