I think I posted something about this poll recently, but I noticed something interesting in this article.
The article is Paranormal Flexibility by Charles M. Blow. I’m not surprised by the results because I’ve been following various poll and demographic data in recent years. I noticed alternative beliefs slipping into mainstream religion such as with New Thought Christianity being included (under different names such as Prosperity Gospel) in the messages of some tv preachers.
Like cultures and races in general, religions are getting all mixed together. People are believing in whatever makes sense to them no matter what is stated in the official dogma of their religion. Heck, even the gays are starting to be accepted by mainstream religion.
I find it rather humorous and it just makes me happy.
Anyways, here is the bit that caught my attention:
For the first time in 47 years of polling, the number of Americans who said that they have had a religious or mystical experience, which the question defined as a “moment of sudden religious insight or awakening,” was greater than those who said that they had not.
[ . . . ]
Since 1996, the percentage of Americans who said that they have been in the presence of a ghost has doubled from 9 percent to 18 percent, and the percentage who said that they were in touch with someone who was dead has increased by about a third, rising from 18 percent to 29 percent.
For those keeping political score, Democrats were almost twice as likely to believe in ghosts and to consult fortune-tellers than were Republicans, and the Democrats were 71 percent more likely to believe that they were in touch with the dead. Please hold the Barack-Obama-as-the-ghost-of-Jimmy-Carter jokes. Heard them all.
The report is further evidence that Americans continue to cobble together Mr. Potato Head-like spiritual identities from a hodgepodge of beliefs — bending dogmas to suit them instead of bending themselves to fit a dogma. And this appears to be leading to more spirituality, not less.
The main thing that interested me was the last sentence. Moving away from unquestioned religious dogma actually increases religious experience.
Along with this, Democrats specifically have the highest rates of religious experience. Does this mean that the Democrats are the Chosen People? That part wasn’t surprising either. Liberals tend towards the personality trait that Ernest Hartmann labels as thin boundaries. Liberals are just more open to new experiences and less fearful of the unfamiliar. The research shows that thin boundary types not only are more likely to believe in the paranormal but also are more likely to experience it.
Marmalade 