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Diversity of beliefs reported in survey

Jehovahs Witnesses and freedom of speech.

They will extol and preach *God's Kingdom* and this sounds attractive,what they hide from you is their Watchtower society version that Jesus has already had his second coming in 1914 and is working *invisibly* through them.
They have won 37 of their 46 Supreme court cases assuring us all of freedom of speech and assembly and equal protection under the law.

The sad irony is that the Watchtower Society *daily* abuses the human rights of thousands of its members. It denies current members the right of free speech by forbidding them to speak to former members, even close family members.
And it denies former members their right of freedom of worship by refusing to allow them to leave the religion with dignity, should they come to disagree with Watchtower's practices or doctrines.

So 5% of atheists pray? To whom do they pray? If their prayers are answered, who answered them? Just wondering! Willow

Other results from the survey:

- 89% of Mormons believe ice cream is a major food group compared to 0% of everyone else.

- 95% of Mormons believe that MLMs are legitimate businesses, compared to 1% of everyone else.

- 90% of Mormons believe that God will financially bless them for going to church compared to 99% of evangelicals and 0% of everyone else.

- 99% of evangelicals believe that God saves people who verbally profess faith and then ignore all the commandments compared to 0% of everyone else.

Oh! PEW these people are living on Old glory. The last report I red was @#$%&* This is no different

The believing in hell question should be thrown out for the Mormons. In Mormomn Doctrine it is a rick question.
Hel is not a place you are sent with fire and brimstone. It is however a condition of the terestial kingdom. Being seperated from God for eternity because of your unworthiness is a 'hell' in itself, but not 'hell' as defined by the poll.

The 'meditate' question may have had a higher response had it been worded 'ponder'.

Not too flattering for those of us in the LDS church. Im proud that we have the highest measured faith that God "for sure" exists but much less proud of being branded intolerant. The results of this survey, in combination with the big FLDS sexual abuse investigation, may cause people to leave the church out of embarassment. At least that's what happened to the Catholic church a few years ago when it was faced with controversy and negative news coverage. It worries me that this will make it even harder for my children to be accepted by their peers- they have already been plenty teased for various other aspects of our faith.

The big difference between Jehovah's Witnesses and Christians is that the Watchtower Society's creed proclaims Jesus second coming on October 1914.

after all; one Philosophy of Man (mingled with scripture) is about as good as another.

Jobu has some good insights.As an evangelical,he is not stretching the truth too much.BTW, MLM's are a great favorite with Evangelicals too!

So Gogat, why do I get the feeling that any research that does not square with your already fixed view of reality would be dismissed as $%%^*& as you put it. If I where to state that 100% of people that do not think like you are wrong, without providing any evidence, you would be writing a glowing review. Just an observation, I maybe wrong.

How can anyone be an atheist? They have no holidays!

This survey actually has some kind of weird results. 5% of atheists pray? Although I'm glad to hear it--it sounds kinda weird. Only 90% of LDS are sure there is a God while 96% believe in miracles. A lot of this seems pretty inconsistent.

I agree that some of these questions are not exactly relevant for LDS. (The question about the existence of Hell) However, that's just the nature of surveys. They lock one into questions and answers that may not be exactly accurate. However, generally what it shows is that LDS in general have a stronger belief and more of a personal relationship with God than most other groups. I'm glad to hear it although I'm not at all surprised.

I hope all will find a way to know God. It is the only way to true happiness.

Jobu:
unfortunately, there are going to be those that will believe your joke is true.

I think it is interesting that, "70 percent of Americans affiliated with a religion say that ... "there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of my religion".

I'd love for them to explain to me HOW they think there can be more than one -TRUE- way to interpret ANYTHING.

What nonsense.

Perhaps they are talking about the many "true" ways of talking about various, but different, aspects of something. Sort of like the idea of the blind men all trying to describe an elephant by feeling different parts (ears, trunk, tail, etc.). Their sense of the "truth" of the elephant are all PARTIALLY true but their idea that the elephant is "like a snake" based on feeling the trunk, or "like a tree" by feeling a leg, are all FALSE.

The truth about truth is that it is not relative. The notion of "several truths" is merely another self-deceptive compromise for the sake of social conformity and/or acceptance.

It is difficult to get qualified responses on religion from mormons because mormons are conditioned to canned responses and use mormon code: to believe is to know, etc. If mormons really were what they say they are it would reveal itself in their lifes as better people, but for the most part they are no different than most others. Mormons have a strong need and desire for father images and this in part influences their religious behavior.

Wow! Now we now what the people believe, who aren't actually attending church on Sundays, don't understand their own beliefs although they profess to be members, and subscribe to the "eat, drink, and be merry" philosophy...

Some great prophets of old have spoken about this very issue. I find it enlightening to see how ignorant most people really are.

To Cat: You can "believe" in miracles without being "sure" there is a God. You just "believe" there is a God.

To Samhill: Just subsitute "effectual," "valid," or "successful" for "true" and you will be able to understand the point of the question and what people were trying to say. For example, it is Mormon doctrine that a Muslim that lives his religion to the best of his ability and understanding will be able to recieve eternal life, even if the path he followed through life was very different than that followed by a Mormon.

To Jobu: I hope you know that you give too little credit to Mormons and way, way too much credit to "everyone else." Having said that, your comments made me chuckle despite the fact that you come across as mean spirited.

To Celia: What in this survey come across as impying Mormon's are intolerant? Kids will tease anything that is different, anything. If it wasn't religous beliefs and practices it would be something else. Just teach your kids that teasing isn't right but to turn the other cheek.

I use to have Jehovah witness stop by my home on a regular basis. I finally had to put a sign on my door that read.... NO Jehovah Witnesses! Otherwise, Pesky people.

samhill:
All of us, are much more blind than we are willing to admit. Yes, truth is out there, but we are greatly limited by our finite abilities.
Maybe the elephant is not really an elephant? But the elephant merely a projection into our 3D world of something much more glorious?

Samhill, what in the sam hill are you talking about? Don't try to sound profound, it is not becoming.