I Wish to Complain About This Poll

[pmcray]

The Alpha Course has a new poster. You might have seen it. I suspect that it was inspired that atheist bus advert. The poster looks this

God exists...

* No

* Yes

* Probably

In other words, it looks like a poll. And if you to the Alpha Course website, there it is on the front page and it is indeed a poll. Leaving aside the rhetorical slight of hand that they've played (compare and contrast Lewis's Trilemma), it struck me that there ought to be some other options. I noticed when I was the eastbound platform of the Piccadilly Line the other day (just round the corner from Alpha Course HQ at Holy Trinity, Brompton), that I was the only person who thinks this. So, in the true James Nicoll style, I suggest that a more meaningful poll would look something like this

God exists...

* No

* Yes

* Probably

* Possibly

* Probably not

* Who is this God person anyway?

* The whole concept of the Christian omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenovelent God is philosophically incoherent and the question is therefore meaningless

* Some other option I will discuss in the comments

* I wish to complain about this poll

Comments

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

What annoys me about polls of this kind is that they never do define "God". A statement that x% of the population "believes in God" is almost entirely devoid of meaning but it doesn't stop religious types using it as 'evidence' in support of religious indoctrination in schools, religious programming on public broadcasting networks etc.

[pmcray.livejournal.com]

I have wondered what happens if you go to the Alpha Course and start asking awakward questions such as "Who is this God person?" and "If the Gospels were originally written in Koine Greek 1900 years ago, and "Jesus" is assumed to have spoken Aramaic, how can we be sure that when we read the Gospels in a modern (or early modern) English version, we are losing things in translation?" I imagine that the group facilitators park those kinds of questions using the group pressure of other participants to isolate the awkward customer and prevent them from influencing the direction of the discussions, and that pre-canned answers are provided at the end of the session or the AC is referred to a higher authority such as the course leader. Presumably if the AC becomes too awkward, it is suggested that they take some to things matters over outside the course.

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

It is a shame there is no short abbreviation for "None of the Above". I may have to start wondering around the tube network with a big black marker pen to write it in.

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

I've been having similar thoughts as it's such a biased poll.

Or A4 sticky labels with some better options and a link to the "British School of Unbiased Poll Design"

[jackfirecat.livejournal.com]

* ticky god

* god killed my parents you insensitive clod

[pmcray.livejournal.com]

>>> * God killed my parents, you insensitive clod

I like that. I think that one should be canonical.