- Aug 8, 2012
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You are probably getting a bit of selection bias. I can see three viewpoints regarding demons:
1. Demons don't exist
2. Demons exist but do not routinely cause supernatural events on earth.
3. Demons exist and regularly impact events on earth.
I would guess that most Christians would fall into group 2, and would tend to side more with group 1 when it comes to attributing events to demonic forces.
The trouble getting an accurate read on it casually is two fold:
1. Those most likely to be vocal on the issue are those in group 3
2. casual polling would tend to conflate groups 2 and 3 (as in "do you believe in demons?")
There's also a bias in the population I'm sampling in this thread. I suspect that CFers lean towards the conservative end of the Christian spectrum. The CF pop is also predominately American. This means that the opinions I'm seeing here are predominantly vocal, conservative Christians with a culturally US viewpoint.
It should also be noted that there's an entire subset of beliefs that largely mirror each other, but with demographic shifts. If you look at ghosts, demons, aliens, etc. you find about half of people believe in them. However, regular church attendance has a positive correlation with belief in demons, and a negative correlation with belief in aliens. So another possible explanation is that about half of people believe in supernatural entities regardless of religion, but the specific way they view the supernatural is shaped by religious affiliation.
I'm a bit cautious about the alien/demon correlations you've mentioned. I don't see aliens as supernatural entities and even I would concede the possibility aliens exist somewhere although not necessarily hiding out on this planet. Aliens, if they are out there, are by definition natural life forms. I also include simple life like molds or bacteria under the general heading of aliens.
I concede that the popular conception of aliens is probably an intelligent being who flits around locally in a flying saucer but even this interpretation does not require they be supernatural. Demons on the other hand are definitely supernatural. What I'm saying is that belief in demons may not equate with belief in aliens.
OB
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