God Help Me, Say 82% Of Americans

Most Americans believe God is concerned with their personal well-being and is directly involved in their personal affairs, according to new research out of the University of Toronto.

Overall, most people believe that God is highly influential in the events and outcomes in their lives. Specifically:

82 per cent say they depend on God for help and guidance in making decisions;

71 per cent believe that when good or bad things happen, these occurrences are simply part of God's plan for them;

61 per cent believe that God has determined the direction and course of their lives;

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Ok, that's enough depressing statistics, you can read the whole article here.

Is Science a Belief? Is Religion a Science? Recent Research

Two ground-breaking papers from researchers at UCLA start to shed some light on the nature of belief: “The Neural Correlates of Religious and Nonreligious Belief” and “Functional Neuroimaging of Belief, Disbelief and Uncertainty”. The “fMRI of Belief” concentrates on the initial results whereas the “Neural Correlates” paper looks more deeply at the implications for religious beliefs.

Our reactions to statements are mediated by emotional responses, so much so that such reactions happen for both religious and non-religious propositions. It is as if the mind trains itself to create a meaningful map by correlating truth and falsehood with pleasure and pain respectively. But does this then mean that both religions and the sciences are just belief systems sustained by emotional responses? Are we thereby just addicted to our prejudices?


Is Science a Belief? Is Religion a Science?