Trust, Newspapers, News and Media

 Low trust— Government and Media

News Clips from American Family Association (Christian media)

Recent surveys from two major polling agencies indicate that Americans have a growing distrust in basic institutions such as government and media.  

A slim majority (51%) now view the U.S. government as a threat to individual liberties rather than a protector of those rights, according to a Rasmussen poll released in June. Only 34% saw the government as a protector of rights, while 15% were undecided. (See story, "Beware the camel's nose.")  

Another Rasmussen poll released last fall revealed that 20% of likely U.S. voters thought the government was operating with the consent of the governed, while 63% believed it was not. 

That poll found that the majority of likely voters felt the federal government had "lost touch with the people it represents," according to Rasmussen.   

According to Gallup's most recent annual Confidence in Institutions survey, 21% of Americans have much confidence in television news. Only 25% have confidence in news reporting of newspapers. The confidence in television is down seven points from last year and has continued in a steady decline of viewers who believe what the mainstream news is saying.

Some things aren't as large as they seem

Perhaps all those homosexual characters on television are paying off for the gay community. 

Less than 2% of the U.S. population self-identifies as gay or lesbian, according to the most reliable estimates. But a recent Gallup poll found that Americans significantly overestimate that figure. 

Gallup found that more than a third of adults believe that more than 25% of Americans are homosexual, with another 17% saying they think the percentage of homosexuals is in the 20-25% range.

                        www.gallup.com, 5/27/12

Study: Fear of hell lowers crime

 

There is a relationship between a society's religious beliefs regarding heaven and hell and how much crime exists, or so says a psychologist from University of Oregon.  

Professor Azim F. Shariff said that his research indicated that a strong cultural belief in a God who punishes sin results in lower crime rates, while stressing a forgiving God tends to increase crime.

"It seems like there is a case to be made for the causal direction that religious punishment does actually lower unethical behavior, whereas forgiveness does seem to license people," Shariff told a local ABC news affiliate.

The study examined attitudes and actions of people in 67 countries over a 26-year period.

                        www.christianpost.com, 6/20/12

 [Global Warming Hoax]

Global what?

Climate change 'deniers' not so dumb after all

The current environmental paradigm assumes that those who don't believe in man-made climate change are less scientifically savvy, while those who do are scientifically smarter.

According to one study, however, those assumptions just aren't true. 

"Seeming public apathy over climate change is often attributed to a deficit in comprehension. The public knows too little science, it is claimed, to understand the evidence or avoid being misled," said a report published in May in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study added: "We conducted a study to test this account and found no support for it."

Instead, the researchers found just the opposite: Those with the highest degrees of scientific understanding were less concerned about climate change, while those who were the most concerned scored slightly lower on tests of scientific knowledge.

"As respondents' science literacy scores increased, their concern with climate change decreased," the paper said. 

Rather than scientific literacy, the researchers said it was ideology that was driving the cultural battle over man-made climate change. Those who believed in individual interests were less concerned about climate change and its causes, while those who believed in pushing for social equality were more concerned.

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation.

                        www.nature.com, 5/27/12; www.foxnews.com, 5/28/12

Islamist promises Israel's destruction …

Islam still promotes terrorism

A radical Muslim preacher predicted that the new president of Egypt would construct a new Muslim caliphate - a single Islamic dominion - over the Arab world with its capital in Jerusalem.

  

In a May speech at a soccer stadium in Cairo, Muslim cleric Safwat Higazi told thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters, "The capital of the caliphate - the capital of the United States of the Arabs - will be Jerusalem, God willing."

  

He then led the crowd in chanting, "Millions of martyrs march toward Jerusalem," according to the Jerusalem Post.

  

Higazi claimed this would be accomplished by then-candidate Mohamed Mursi, who eventually won the Egyptian presidency in a controversial election victory. Mursi agreed with Higazi's sentiments regarding Israel.  

"Yes, Jerusalem is our goal," Mursi told the crowd. "We shall pray in Jerusalem, or die as martyrs on its threshold." 

Mursi has also said that Egypt-s Coptic Christian population must "convert [to Islam], pay tribute or leave" the country. The statement was made privately to a journalist but was publicized by the Egyptian news website El Bashayer.   

… and then the Vatican

The Middle East Media Research Institute released a video and translation of an interview with a prominent Muslim professor in which he predicted the Islamic re-conquest of Andalusia (Spain) and the subjugation ofz the Vatican, home to the Catholic Church. 

"The conquest of Andalusia is an old dream, something Muslims proudly hope for and will continue to hope for in the future," Dr. Subhi Al-Yaziji said in a May 25 interview on Al-Aqsa TV. He added: "We place our hopes in Allah and trust that the day will come when our triumph will not be restricted to Palestine. Our hopes go beyond that - to raise the banner of the caliphate over the Vatican, the 'Rome' of today, in accordance with the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad: 'Constantinople shall be conquered, and then Rome.'"  

According to MEMRI, Al-Yaziji is dean of Koranic studies at Islamic University of Gaza and former department head at the Ministry of Religious Endowments for Hamas. 

                        www.christianpost.com, 5/31/12;  www.jpost.com, 5/8/12; www.memri.org, 6/8/12;  www.theblaze.com, 6/12/12