People Believe the Darndest Things

Within our society a number of people believe very fantastic things. This recent poll found that 28 percent of American voters believe that Saddam Hussein had a hand in the terrorist attacks of September 2001. The same percentage believes that there is an elite cabal who is driven to put the world under one authoritarian government, a New World Order. Other fantastical theories get their due: Seven percent of voters believe that the moon landings were faked; Barack Obama is believed to be the Anti-Christ by 13 percent of voters, with 22 percent of Romney supporters believing this of our president; and 14 percent believe that Bigfoot walks the woods of California.

            Most popular is the Kennedy Assassination conspiracy theory, an admittedly seductive notion. Even Lyndon Johnson, as he accepted the Warren Commission Report, had his doubts that a single man had been behind the killing of his predecessor. This belief is held by 51 percent of Americans.

            Right after the Kennedy conspiracy, 37 percent of voters believe that global warming is a hoax. There is a great divide between the political parties on this, with only eleven percent of Democrats believing this and 58 percent of GOP voters holding this idea.

            Looking at this poll, I can’t help but think that once there is a crazy idea, then it takes on a life of its own. The headlines of flying saucers landing in Roswell are nearly 70 years old, yet 21 percent of voters believe that little green men landed near the New Mexico city. Paul McCartney has continued to perform in concerts, make recordings, and appear on television, but hundreds of thousands of people continue to believe that he met his maker in 1966.

            So I have good news for the oil companies and coal companies and the industries that they fund to deny global warming. You can tell all the folks at the Heartland Institute, Fox News, and all the other organizations that do their best to cast doubt on the science of global warming that they can take it easy. They can take a long vacation, spend time with their hobbies and families. They don’t have to keep selling the meme that global warming is a hoax. People will believe crazy ideas on their own. You no longer have to finance the global warming denial industry. This poll should be proof enough.