According to an AP poll, 1 in 4 Americans expect the second coming of Jesus Christ to happen in 2007. I can just about get my head around the number of people who expect it to happen soon; but specifically next year? And 1 in 4 people think this?
Guardian: More people in Britain think religion causes harm than believe it does good, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today. It shows that an overwhelming majority see religion as a cause of division and tension — greatly outnumbering the smaller majority who also believe that it can be a force for good. Well, that’ll give Richard Dawkins a merry Christmas.
Some results from a USA Today / Gallup poll: 66% of people think all Americans should be forced to carry a national ID card. 46% think Arabs should have to carry a special ID card, even if they are US citizens. (Hell, why not give ’em a red crescent badge or tattoo?) 48% think the police should be able to stop anyone at random and demand their ID. 37% think the government should be free to search the list of books you’ve checked out of the library.
Choice statistics from last week’s CBS poll of the average American: 61% disapprove of Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq. 65% believe the country is heading in the wrong direction. 81% think the torture at Abu Ghraib was unjustified. 51% think the Pentagon tried to cover it up. 20% think the Bush administration has increased jobs, 49% think they’ve decreased jobs. There’s more in this week’s poll: 80% thought Bush was either “hiding something” or “mostly lying” in his statements on Iraq.
Guardian today: A new poll suggested yesterday that Ralph Nader’s independent presidential bid represented a serious threat to the Democratic candidate, Senator John Kerry. The New York Times and CBS News poll revealed a tight two-man race for the White House between President George Bush and Mr Kerry. Mr Bush had a narrow lead of 46% over Mr Kerry’s 43% — within the poll’s margin of error. But when Americans were asked about a three-man race including Mr Nader, the 70-year-old consumer activist attracted 7% support, mostly at the expense of the Democrat.
A recent opinion poll shows that 48% of voters would vote for the unannounced Democratic presidential candidate, versus 44% for Bush. (Margin of error: 3%.) Yes, that’s right. Bush losing to an unknown candidate who doesn’t exist yet.
Poll results: “Surprisingly Few Adults Outside of Christianity Have Positive Views of Christians”. I’d say it was probably only a surprise to the Christians.