Many people throughout the world have been exposed to the “Transformers” movies, cartoons, toys, and action figures. The Transformers are a divided race of autonomous robots, split into warring factions called Decepticons and Autobots. Can you tell them apart?
These are their symbols:
The truth is that both are decepticons. They both work through deception. They both hide who they really are when they deem it to be expedient. They change their very shapes for the purpose of concealment while they pursue their agendas.
They can be distinguished from one another, however, through several attributes that cannot be hidden. They differ in the color of the light of their eyes, one red the other blue, matching the color of their life spark. They differ in the shapes of their heads and appendages, one very sinister and animalish the other softened and more anthropomorphic. Moreover their ultimate agendas and interaction with others, especially with humans, differ greatly.
When a pollster calls our house, I assume that I am being contacted by a Decepticon. I know that not all pollsters are Decepticons, but I almost never hear from the honest ones. And the ones that are commonly reported in the media are nearly always Decepticons.
The Republican Decepticons won’t even talk to me anymore. They call and ask for my wife, by name. When I tell them that she does not want to speak with them but that I will speak with them, they hang up. They already know who I am and what I will say. I don’t change my form or appearance for the sake of expediency, and I don’t allow myself to be polled in a manner that misrepresents me.
Most polls are absolutely deceptive in their design. For example:
“Do you agree with Obama on healthcare? Yes or No.”
In some parts yes and some parts no. This is not a valid yes or no question. It is designed so that it can be interpreted in ways that completely misrepresent my opinion.
“Do you believe that all Americans should have health insurance? Yes or no.”
Yes, I believe that with the current abusive health care costs that all Americans should have health insurance because the system is designed so that those who pay cash are overcharged exorbitantly. But I do not believe that all Americans should be forced to pay for health insurance and I especially do not believe that those who take the responsibility should be forced to pay for those who do not.
“Do you believe in climate change? Yes or no.”
Yes, of course I do, you idiot. It changes constantly, moment to moment. It changes daily. It changes weekly. It changes seasonally. It changes annually. It changes cyclically. It changes with solar flares. It changes locally. It changes regionally. It changes from day and night. It changes globally. But do I believe in the Algorist propaganda? That is an entirely different matter.
When pollsters call, I first ask whom they represent. If they will not tell me then I refuse to partake of the poll. I usually give pollsters a chance to ask a few questions so as to learn the type of questions. If the questions are rigged, I end my participation. Very few pollsters prove to be honest. Most whom I encounter are Decepticons.
Often these polls have far reaching impact. The interpretation of the results are used by many. Usually those who use these interpreted figures do not investigate to learn the basis of the interpretations, but rather, simply use the interpretations in accord with their own agendas.
Is this honest? No. But it also is not always deliberate dishonesty, or at least, it is not always planned dishonesty. We do not always evaluate our own motives to determine whether or not we are being honest, and so we proceed as if honesty can be presumed from ignorance.
Christians are notorious for this. Taking a minimalist view toward the doctrine of the Bible has led to horrible dishonesty and misrepresentation of that doctrine. Who can even count the number of different Christian religions who ultimately profess to believe in the same God, even though they interpret the words of the Bible differently from one another, usually differently than they actually stand written and apart from their proper context, and to very different ends?
Many other religions are misrepresented from their actual writings and doctrines as well. For example, I know a very nice Muslim gentleman with whom I have occasional conversations. From him I have learned some very disturbing things about the USA’s actions in Iraq. Yet this man is glad for the good things that the USA has done as well. He simply openly acknowledges the other things as well. But regarding Islam, when I responded to some of his comments about what the Quran actually teaches, his response was that one has to read between the lines. In other words, he picks and chooses, interpreting the religion according to what he considers to be expedient, just like most Christians. So he is really no more Muslim than most Christians are Christian.
In case you are wondering, this does all relate to the issue of the Decepticon pollsters.
I recently read a blog post entitled,
“Comparing Least Religious Countries With Most Religious - Do We Need Religion to Thrive as a Society?” If you wish to read it, you’ll have to find it for yourself, because the article is not my focus. Rather, the quoted poll interpretation is my focus. The intent of the article is very plain from the title. Reading this article led me to investigate further. Of the countries reported by this Gallup poll is Estonia, a country of which I knew nothing. So I decided to learn about this country that Gallup reports to be the world’s least religious country, listing it as only 14% religious.
I found another article entitled
Estonians least religious in the world. I share this one because it quotes the question that was used to reach this determination. I will quote the first three paragraphs from this article:
Five EU members figure among the world's top 10 least religious countries, with Estonia leading the list, a new poll has shown.
Just 14 percent of Estonians answered positively to the question: "Is religion an important part of your daily life?" according to a poll released by Gallup earlier this week.
Estonia is followed by Nordic countries Sweden and Denmark, where 17 and 18 percent of those asked answered positively to the same question.
The question presented to those polled was:
“Is religion an important part of your daily life?”
From this Gallup then determines that 14% of the people of Estonia are religious! What a Decepticon move!
How many different ways can this question be understood or misunderstood?
Is this the same as asking people whether or not they count themselves as being religious?
How can anyone know how people would have responded if they had been asked,
“Do you consider yourself to be non-religious?” Or how about,
“Do you consider yourself to be a religious person?” Or how about,
“Do you consider religion to play any role in your life?” Or how about even,
“Do you consider religion to be important in your life?”
This Gallup question was designed to allow for the interpretation that was presented. It was not designed to be objective and to obtain data that truly represents the issue being evaluated.
At
Visitestonia.com a person could very easily reach a very different conclusion. On the first page of the site, one of the currently highlighted articles is
Tallinn Christmas market praised as one of the best in Europe. From the following featured photograph, would one assume this to be promoted as a secular or non-religious festival?
On their
Estonian Culture page one of the highlighted links is
Religion in Estonia with this featured photograph and information as the link.
Again, from that page on their web site:
Religion In Estonia
Since the 16th century, Estonia has been a predominantly protestant (Lutheran) country.
According to them, this predominance has survived the attempts of the Soviets to discourage all religious activity.
Short of a total ban, the Soviets did everything possible to discourage religious activity during their occupation of Estonia. Open believers were banned from most senior jobs.
Services are held in English every Sunday in the Lutheran Holy Ghost Church in Tallinn.
Here the tourism industry seems to take pride in the religious activities of their people, advertising it as a point that they want visitors to notice. They openly declare their country to be a “predominantly protestant (Lutheran) country.” They say that it has been this way since the 16th century.
Does this cause one to wonder about how honestly Gallup’s question and interpretation represent reality? Do Gallup’s question and interpretation honestly reflect how Estonians view themselves and desire to be represented? I certainly do not get that impression from their tourism web site.
Perhaps people should take into account the ways of the Decepticon pollsters before forming conclusions like the one suggested by the title of the article that moved me to take up this investigative endeavor:
“Comparing Least Religious Countries With Most Religious - Do We Need Religion to Thrive as a Society?”
Even if the pollsters were not Decepticons and the people of various countries were as nonreligious as the Decepticons present, would that actually lead to the conclusion that the centuries of religious influence on people and their views and their ways has been erased? Has the influence of the teaching of the Ten Commandments been completely eradicated in the United States by the agenda of the activist judges who have removed them from government schools and other public places where they were displayed and even taught? Is it really true that what we have today in the way of morality can be counted as a non-product of the centuries of religious activity and influence? Even if the majority of people now counted themselves to be nonreligious, would that necessarily mean that the positive and beneficial views that they hold do not have ties to the influence that the religious have taught previously?
From the other perspective, does the obvious hypocrisy of many who counted and do count themselves as religious negate what has been taught through their religions? Who can honestly examine the Ten Commandments and not count their precepts to be good? Who can hear the doctrine of
“Love your neighbor as yourself,” and not see how that benefits society?
Anyone who has ever heard of the Christian faith has heard this doctrine as well as
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
What would you expect the results to show of a poll asking:
“Does atheism teach love for neighbor?” or
“Does the removal of all religious influence lead to more kindly relations between people in society?” And if your poll showed that the majority of people held one of these views, would it mean that it was so? Or vice versa?
It is amazing how blindly we can pursue a presupposed notion. In this particular connection, do people completely forget history? When people look to polls and even statistics regarding wealthy and powerful nations and societies that migrate from their previous following of religion and the ideals of that religion, do they forget that this has been the pattern displayed throughout history? Have not all of the nations begun as the poorer nations who looked to religion and the established precepts? As these goodly precepts promoted peace and unity the nation prospered, even when in some the precepts were not all good. As the prosperity and power increased, the people became less and less convinced of the necessity of devotion to their religion. Eventually the nation or civilization no longer resembled itself and the unity disintegrated and it fell, only to start over again as a poor and powerless people who focused again upon the precepts of religion. With one exception, new gods and religious systems were established. In the one case, each time the people returned to the same God and Scriptures and instead of inventing a new religion, returned to the constancy of what had been passed down from generations before. That religion has circumscribed the world.
Interestingly, the poll that is quoted in the references above is from the Gallup article of February 9, 2009,
What Alabamians and Iranians Have in Common.
A more recent report from 2009 is listed at the August 31, 2010 article
Religiosity Highest in World's Poorest Nations.
The most recent report that I have been able to find is at
Gallop Global Reports. To view it one must scroll downward and click on Religion. This report is dated 2010.
It is certainly interesting to observe that according to these successive reports the percentage who answered yes to the question has increased each year from 14% in the earlier poll to 17% in the most recent poll. While this should not be taken too seriously, especially on account of the nature of the question, it certainly does not support the conclusion that the country is becoming less religious and that the people are counting themselves less dependent upon religion in their lives. It does seem to indicate one thing: that those who are thinking of themselves as religious may now be answering in a way that would indicate that they think of it more in terms of daily importance rather than general importance.
But it is just a poll and a statement of opinions utilizing a very faulty system of data gathering and analysis. In my evaluation we would be better off simply to say “No” to pollsters and deal directly with one another as loving neighbors and brethren.
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