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38% of Americans Think Japan Earthquake/Tsunami Were a Sign From God

Fox News reports that a lot of Americans might agree with Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara’s comments about the earthquake being divine punishment for Japan:

A little bit more from CNN, which has downplayed the alarmingly high number with a headline that characterizes 38% of the population as “few Americans”:

Fewer than 4 in 10 Americans (38%) believe that earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters are a sign from God, while roughly 3 in 10 believe that God sometimes punishes nations for the sins of some citizens, according to the survey.

[...]

A majority of people who self-identified as white evangelical Christians bucked the consensus against God punishing nations for the sins of its citizens, with 53% saying they believed that to be true.

Even more white evangelicals, 59%, believe that natural disasters are a sign from God, while only about one-third of Catholics and white mainline Protestants share that view.

Two thirds of white evangelicals also believe that natural disasters are evidence of the “end times,” according to the survey.

The survey was conducted by telephone with 1,008 adults in the continental United States between March 17-20 as news was pouring in from the hardest-hit areas in Japan.

The margin of error for the survey is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

[hat tip to Mutantfrog]

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52 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - March 25, 2011 at 11:29 am

Categories: General Japan Tags:

satan

the fact that this was initially done by fox news instantly discredits it.
http://www.feitclub.com feitclub

Just once, I’d like to see a major news organization do an intentionally crazy poll (i.e. “Do you believe natural disasters are caused by space aliens?” and see what the response is. Would be an interesting control experiment to compare to this lunacy.

flowby

God actually qualifies as a “space alien” – not of this earth & non-human.

Craig

ask them if 9/11 was divine punishment too

http://hanlonsrzr.blogspot.com Mr. S.

Exactly. We already knew that evangelicals are as dumb as a post, and don’t even understand Christianity: “judge not lest ye be judged”, and the fact that a vengeful god is one from the Old Testament. As a ‘lapsed Catholic’ I am unsurprised that 1/3 believe in group punishment, which is a heresy.

nagoriyuki

What is the definition of “God”?

ThyGoddess

Space Jesus.

jcpb

Is Apophis a foosball thrown by Space Jesus?

http://whatjapanthinks.com Ken Y-N

Oh dear, that’s quite depressing!
Hamachiman

This isn’t nowhere near the level of all that “karma” b.s. that was so popular not too long ago.

While the notion of divine retribution may be disagreeable, it’s not necessarily because a nation or its people are inherently bad or evil (like the pearl harbor karma types believe when it comes to all things Japanese).

They believe so because they think the nation may be ‘godless’ or the like. As such, it could apply to any nation and not specific to Japanese people. These religious fundies would feel the same way even about their own countries and how the end of times is near.
melanie

they polled about 1000 people out of the 300 million plus who live here? how can you conclude from that what 38% of the people here think about anything? how much effort was putting into trying to get a representative sample of people from different regions, different religious beliefs, etc?
i don’t doubt that a majority of evangelical christians believe this, because that tends to be one of their core beliefs, that anything bad that happens is a punishment from god.
and i’m not for a second trying to imply that there aren’t a lot of people here who believe embarrassingly stupid things.
but there needs to be a lot more information given about their research methods before you can draw any valid conclusions from their statistics.
whak

52% of statistics are made up and 74% of polls are a waste of time.
takahide

both Ishihara and Paul watson said divine punishment , but the meaning is different at all

japanese old people is basically sweet for others , strict for self .
manimal

What about that other 12%? Does that mean 12% of Americans are atheists? I was kind of hoping that number would be higher.

Seriously though if “God” is going to give us a sign it better be something that we cannot explain with science. You’d think God would be smart enough to know that.

manimal

ooops I meant 11%

lovely

well – what do you expect from fux – i mean – fox news.
miyoyon

Guys, you people are doing a GREAT JOB!
It’s just a couple of days after I found this site, but I LOVE it!

As a Japanese maybe I am supposed to be angry, but reading this article didn’t hurt me at all.
To tell the truth I just bursted out!
( But about Ishihara & Captian Paul, I would love to punch them into their faces)

miyoyon

Well, my best advice to them is to go to see a shrink, but also I think I can explain why this kind of reaction was caused.

I think– they were just seriously shocked by those massive tsunami videos.
You now, earthquakes are not very photogenic. Cameras shaking, debrief falls from the sky, everybody screaming, but sadly you can’t feel the real horror at the site.

But Tsunami is different, seeing those deadly waves slowly reaching the shore, it’s quite creepy.
Oh! The Mother Nature has finally started to revenge! Forgive me Mr. Poseidon!!

Well, so my last advice is, book a shrink and– start learning surfing.

http://hanlonsrzr.blogspot.com Mr. S.

With the bloody American interventions around the world, that is one country that should not hope for divine blowback, especially for the richest 1%.
http://www.keepingpaceinjapan.com Turner

I am surprised. I thought only 25% of Americans were complete idiots. Guess it’s 38%.

kevin

Only a complete idiot would believe that 38% is an accurate account. It should say 38% percent of Americans who voted on this pole are idiots. I love how people just use this kind of stuff to rag on Americans. You think it’s intelligent when you are the one promoting ignorance.
kevin

However! if you are referring to the south park 9/11 episode, then you are forgiven.

http://www.keepingpaceinjapan.com Turner

I was…

amyous

I was going to make a comment about how I’m a white evangelical who doesn’t think the tsunami was divine punishment, but then I realised I’m not American.

Sally

xD your comment made my day!

Anonymous

>self-identified as white evangelical
Well, there you go. It’s just the usual idiots.
http://www.billowykimono.com Senor Science

I come from a family of evangelicals, and my Grandmother was a Pentecostal minister. Asides from her (Bless her soul as she was the real deal and if she was alive now she’d be trying to help the Japanese) the rest of the movement can be chalked up as being batsh*t insane.
kevin

46% of Americans haven’t even voted on this pole.
TofuUnion

Do they believe Hurricane Katrina was also a sign from God who punished America for the sins of some US citizens ?

http://theinconvenienttruthonwhaling.blogspot.com/ kujirakira

Some crazy douchebags did, yes.
As I’ve said before — I believe the “natural disaster = divine punishment” line is a litmus test for incurable and insufferable aholes.
ThyGoddess

Any tragedy, small or little, and you’ll have disgusting people saying it’s a punishment for something.

Heard a few people say Katrina was just God cleaning up the “toilet”.

New Zealand earthquake, Australia floods…. Each and every one of them there was a so called “heavenly reason” for it. God’s an ineffective bastard you know.

Jordan

Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.
Brent

This is ridiculous. If God dips his hand in the cookie jar of our free will with divine intervention to punish innocent people, then don’t expect God to divinely intervene to help those who survive. You can’t have one without the other, so these people need to check their logic and realize that we have neither. Things happen, God doesn’t make them.
manimal

This poll was answered by people who had time to answer a phone poll from The Religious Research Institute. I’m pretty sure most Americans would simply hang up assuming they were somehow not on the do not call registry. In fact I’d be willing to bet that this Religious Research Institute probably has a call list of people that they target and know will answer their asinine questions.

jcpb

Religious Research Institute sounds like a right-wing lobby working in tandem with the Republican Party.

http://witzl.blogspot.com/ MaryWitzl

This sort of terrible natural disaster is great for rallying brave, good people anxious to help and comfort. Unfortunately, it’s also great for bringing out jackasses anxious to push their own agendas. Let us be thankful for the former and aware of the latter.

For what it’s worth, I’m a long-term expatriate American, and I’ve heard this ‘It was God’s will’ argument spouted by many people of different nationalities. I’m confident that when it comes to idiots, America isn’t taking home all the gold medals.
Morten

Should have said “38% of Americans Don’t Think” instead…
Mac

Count me among the 51% who disagree.
kanoe81

A “Sign from God” is pretty vague. The statement in itself doesn’t necessarily imply that a Yes answer means it was retribution for specific acts or that the victims deserved it.
DougW

I tend to think this is more an artifact of the poor educational system we have in the U.S.
Leandro

It’s Fox. Never mind.
NONEOFMYBEESWAX

And hey wonder why so many are either chosing to leave the faith for another or become atheists. The lack of compassion amongst those that I once belong to is shocking. It makes me wonder, if Christians ever really have compassion or a humane bone in their bodies. If they truly go by the word they cling to.
Sally

They polled ~1000 people…research was conducted by 10 different individuals. 9 went to their respective churches, and one wasn’t religious.
I’m guessing by surveying the United States, they meant to say that 95% of the respondants were within the state of Georgia, the other 5 percent were traveling other parts of the United States for vacation.
tom

By 38% of american, they mean 38% of the people who took the poll. All of whom lived in some hick county in Alabama.
SlyTheSly

Amaterasu will be angry at this poll…

http://theinconvenienttruthonwhaling.blogspot.com/ kujirakira

Does Amaterasu get mad? I thought she just goes in her cave and has a good cry…

Karina

If anybody (of any nationality, background etc) literally believes that natural disasters have anything to do with God or religion or past historical atrocities or anything else, they are a complete idiot. What did these people learn in science class in school? My marks in science class were average but even I know that this is ridiculous. Things like this make me so disgusted and disturbed. Sigh…

Cara

Don’t they teach Intelligent Design in science class these days? Which means the world is just what, 6,000 years old?

Idotgotit

Why do you people not understand, seek not God in the face of a storm, nor in an earthquake? But in the hearts of those who give aid to them who are caught in their time of need and hope. Anyone who believes that he caused this calamity is a fool For he so loves the world not just a portion of it and we must show are love for our neighbors in this same way.
Schaffer

FOX NEWS

enough said
crazywhitebigot

I’m a white evangelical Christian who watches Fox and loves visiting Japan but I don’t think it was divine punishment any more than I think Hurricane Katrina was divine punishment. Not that it matters but no one polled me.
Brits

Which God? Every religion has their own. My Bible tells me that my God is good. His signs cannot be anything else but good. Tsunamis and Earthquakes are not good. Healing, love, life and blessings flows from Him. Seek Him and have a relationship with Him and see for yourself!

38% of Americans Think Japan Earthquake/Tsunami Were a Sign From God

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