A recent poll, I think taken by AP/AOL, claims that 81% of Americans believe angels are real. Sorry, but I just don't believe it. I don't know what the questions actually were, don't know who was polled, don't, in fact, know anything about it. But I absolutely do not believe that 81% of Americans believe angels are real. I have lived now for quite a long time. During that period I have known and been exposed to all kinds of Americans. I do not believe I have ever known a single person who would admit to believing angels are real. Furthermore, I do not believe Americans are anywhere near as religious as all these recent polls and articles would like us to believe. Why has church membership fallen off consistently for years? Why are some of the fundamentalists so concerned that so few young people are staying with the church? I am not usually a conspiracy buff but I am beginning to believe there may be a conspiracy to portray Americans as far more religious than they truly are (I don't know who is behind this but I suspect it is so). Maybe it is an attempt to draw attention away from the fact that some of our churches seem to have been little more than institutionalized ways to abuse children. It could be there is just a huge gap between what people say they believe and what they actually do.
Maybe I don't believe this because I am an atheist and simply cannot believe that anyone could possibly believe in such totally irrational beliefs. I am an equal rights cynic. I believe in the Great Mystery which of course I do not understand. But I do not believe I am going to understand it by going to church on sunday and studying the bible. Nor do I believe that praying on my knees five times a day is going to enlighten me. I also do not believe that speaking in tongues or embracing reptiles is going to help. Supporting a bunch of old men walking around dressed in expensive medieval robes and carrying sceptres (or whatever they are) does not give me faith. I believe that people who fight to the death over their irrational beliefs are simply insane (whether they be Christians, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Sikhs, or whatever). I absolutely do not believe in prosyletizing and think it should be illegal. Whether a woman should wear a black cap or a white cap, or a burka or merely a head scarf, wear a cross or a St Christopher medal, believe someone was swallowed by a whale or built an ark, is waiting for the Rapture, or whatever, strikes me as completely trivial and not worthy of even bothering about. I do not believe angels are real nor that they dance on the heads of a pin.
On a more sober note, some of our generals have accepted the kool-aid. Whereas just the other day virtually the entire Genral Staff was opposed to the "surge," now a couple of generals on the ground in Iraq have accepted the idea. Do you know how one becomes a general? And how generals move up in grade? It is not by arguing with the commander in chief (even if he is a blithering idiot). So we will probably have a "surge" which will accomplish nothing other than more deaths and perhaps extend Bush's tenure as President long enough for him to dump the whole mess on someone else. We will not try diplomacy, we will not withdraw troops, we will not give up permanent bases, we will not do anything that reveals even a semblance of intelligent thought, we will not pass "Go" and we will drop a few more billion dollars. Those elected officials who could so something to stop this insanity seem to have abandoned their posts and stand around sucking their thumbs. Ah, democracy, American style.
The bears in northern Spain have stopped hibernating. Does that tell you anything? Polar bears are resorting to cannibalism. Does that tell you anything? Tomorrow is canceled due to lack of interest.
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Intriguing post, but I would suggest that that poll was probably worded in a very vague way.
If you think about it, every person who has spiritual beliefs of any kind most likely belief in some kind of angelic force. For pagans, they might be brownies, fairies, or sprites. For Muslims, perhaps they are called ifrit or djinn. But however you define your faith tradition, chances are you will believe that God (or the Gods) have lesser deities that serve some useful purpose.
For my money, angels, if they exist, are nothing more than energy with some ill-defined psychic mentality, which are processed by certain individuals as actual persons, like ghosts or angels. To the rest of us, they are nothing more than feelings. And I really doubt that God, if such an entity exists, needs to use such beings as intermediaries. I honestly think that if people see such beings, and believe the stuff they say, they are making a huge mistake. I feel this way because I've read a lot about UFOs and alien abductions, and the crap those things say don't sound very Godly. Chances are these aliens, or manifestations of mental illness, tricked these gullible individuals into believing stuff that wasn't true, like Virgin birth, for example.
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