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The authors are using this an example of a widespread thing people think is true (that belief in god has gone from ubiquitous to uncommon), but that is not actu
by larsiusprime 4y ago
The authors are using this an example of a widespread thing people think is true (that belief in god has gone from ubiquitous to uncommon), but that is not actually true (belief in god has decreased, but not by as much as people think), the subject of what the article measures.
- randomdata 4y agoThe referenced GALLOP poll only asked if the respondents believe in God/believe in a God. Pew Research conducted a similar study and found that 90% of respondents believe in a higher power, which echos GALLOP, but only 56% believe in God as described in the Bible. It's not clear what percentage of people believed in the Bible's God 60 years ago, but if we, for argument's sake, assume 90-100% then 56% support now is comparatively uncommon. Under those assumptions, it would be quite reasonable to think that religious culture has changed dramatically. The key takeaway here is that communication is hard and that data is easy to twist.