Topic: 1 in 3 Americans Believe Weather is a Sign of the End

[HailHunter]

From CNN
Washington (CNN) – More than a third of Americans see recent extreme weather as a sign that the world is in biblical “end times,” according to a survey released Thursday.

Thirty-six percent of Americans say that the severity of recent natural disasters indicate that we are at the precipice of Jesus’ second coming and the end of the world, according to the survey, released by Public Religion Research Institute. The survey found that 15% of Americans believe the world will end, as predicated in the book of Revelation, in their lifetime.

“Theology plays an important role in how we view the world,” said Daniel Cox, the survey firm’s research director. “We have had a number of really severe weather events in 2012, and we thought that might affect how people respond.”

In late 2012, Superstorm Sandy ravaged the east coast, killing 106 people in the United States and causing up to $50 billion in damage. The year also saw a major drought in the Midwest and southeastern United States, wildfires throughout Colorado that provoked tens of thousands to evacuate and June floods that washed out roads and bridges and inundated neighborhoods in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

A belief that the end of the world is near does not necessarily rule out acceptance of global warming, however. More than six-in-10 Americans said the severity of recent storms is caused by global climate change.

“To some, climate change is one way that we are experiencing end times,” Cox said.

Beliefs about climate change and the end times are largely split along religious lines. While most white mainline Protestants (65%) and Catholics (60%) say recent extreme weather is born of climate change, a large majority of white evangelical Protestants (65%) say the storms are proof of “end times.”

The book of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament, paints itself as a prophetic look at the second coming of Jesus Christ. The apocalyptic book says that believers will be saved and that nonbelievers will perish in a struggle between good and evil.

Many Christians believe the end times will be marked by drought, famine, storms and floods, as well as economic failures.

Though they disagree on why it’s happening, most Americans agree that the weather is intensifying. According to the Public Religion Research Institute survey, 63% of Americans say the weather is getting “more extreme,” while only 6% said it was getting “less extreme.”

“While there is disagreement about the causes of, and to a lesser extent the existence of, global warming, there is nonetheless widespread agreement about the need for action,” Robert P. Jones, CEO of the polling firm, said.

The survey found that eight in 10 Democrats and more than 6 in 10 independents say the government needs to do more to combat global warming, though most Republicans disagree.

The telephone survey of 1,018 American adults was conducted from December 5 to December 9. The poll’s margin of error is 3.2 percent.

Dan Merica - Dan Merica

[HailHunter]

Before I begin my reply, I would like to start off by noting that I am a Christian and I do believe in God. So nothing I am about to say here should reflect any antagonism toward religion, God, people of faith, or anyone of the like.

That being said, I wish these people would do a little bit of research before letting what they see in the media without any context guide their beliefs.

The severity of natural disasters has actually been on a downward slide for years leading up til this past decade. And even the major disasters we have had are not unprecedented by any stretch of the imagination.

Hurricane Sandy is a storm that everyone said would happen one day in New England, and to be honest it was not as bad as many predictions in past years had suggested a major, super storm would be.

Hurricane Katrina was an awful hurricane, but it had been seen before from the likes of Galveston a century earlier and Camille just 30 years prior. That is to say nothing of the fact that many of those lost during Katrina were from the post hurricane floods that were partially man made due to lack of updates in the flood control system in and around New Orleans rather than from Katrina herself.

We had gone years without seeing an F5 tornado outbreak, and even the number of notable tornadic events had fallen in recent years leading up to 2011. If I am not mistaken, 2010 saw a record low number of tornadoes. Not to mention, I think we're on track at having one of the lowest marks for tornadoes on record this year as well.

As for the other things mentioned, droughts, floods, and wildfires are common elements of life in the United States thanks to our geographic climate regions. A flood or a wildfire is no more a sign of something catastrophic on the horizon than a blizzard in December or a tornado outbreak in Spring.

I think the point I am trying to make is that people are looking at these events without examining them from an historic stand point, and that is never a good idea.

As for people pointing to climate change, well see all the above for the same arguments.

[dkinsc]

Interesting post, and you have given an interesting analysis.  Here is a slightly different perspective.

A trick I learned long ago in an experimental context was to sample the variance without perturbing any of the independent variables.  This is also why we try to replicate observations at experimental points, to help us understand the importance of the effects.  I think this applies to your citation.

I suspect that we could describe just about anything that is noteworthy in the media recently and 33 per cent of the public would find it indicative of the end times.  And, as you say, without considering the context.

I wonder, just what proportion of us have a strong belief in the end times, rapture, what have you.  Maybe less than 33%?

Of course, part of this process is how the questions are stated.  Since there can be bias in the asking of the question, and part of good social research technique is learning how to avoid this, I suspect many of the question "askers" are guilty of this bias.  So, just as many of the respondents do not consider the context, many of the askers do not consider (or perhaps don't care) the bias they inject.

And this is also subject to errors due to the context.  Consider that questioner bias as well as the desire to sensationalize the ordinary in order to sell media have both been around as long as weather.

[sigh]  I am too old for this.  And these people, askers and responders, who expose their ignorance so well, act en masse to affect our futures.  My parameters on what news I believe are getting more and more narrow.

[blizzardof78]

All I'll say is, and I shouldn't, is that the reason 1 in 3 believe this, is because of the constant barrage of misinformation, that's what I said, MISINFORMATION being shoved down our throats DAILY. I'm so sick and tired of hearing NPR and other TV and Radio stations promoting "Climate Change". I guess whatever it takes to get the Politicians their money and the Scientists their research funding, 'ey? PFFFFTTTT on their Climate Change. It's all "cyclical". Puhleaseeeeee!