“christians like info porn”

one of my friends, who’s been working in research and statistics for the last decade or so, wrote that in an email to me.

what led us to that conversation were some statistics many of us have seen before. i know i have, and i was hoping to use them in my book. but having been recently influenced by my brilliant stats-minded friend, i knew i had to track down the source and make sure it was indeed scientific and unbiased before claiming it gospel truth.

the stats i was looking up:

1500 ministers leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, burnout, or contention
50% of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce
80% feel unqualified and discouraged
50% would leave ministry but fear they couldn’t make a living
70% constantly fight depression
40% have had an extramarital affair while in ministry
70% say their only time reading the Bible is when they prepare sermons

i looked around and was able to track most of them down to an informal survey focus on the family did. sounds legit, right?

not so.

the survey was conducted at seminars for pastors/marriages. something i’ve learned in the course of writing mad church disease is just because you have a group of people answer questions, well, that doesn’t make it real research.

unfortunately, these stats cannot be considered accurate for a couple of reasons:

-it’s not a representative sample. the group is pastors who went to a FOF event. totally idiosyncratic.
-the wording of the questions are biased. and grouped. you can’t ask if they feel something AND something.

it would be like getting a group of 20 and 30 year old pastors together and then saying a majority of pastors are young. that’s just not the way statistics are done.

97% of christians get 80% of their stats from unreliable sources, and 73% of them will pass it on as truth. and yes, that whole sentence was a bunch of bull. christians like info porn!

moral of the story? take a stand against info porn. don’t spread bad stats!

on another note, i do have some scientific research that was conducted legitimately. and because i want you to wait a year and buy the book, i won’t put it up just yet… :)

but please let me say…things are not as bad as they may seem.

i wasn’t sure either.

this showed up in my gmail “suggested” advertising.

why?

(and no, i haven’t visited the site either. curiosity doesn’t provoke me that much, thank you).

(Thanks, Deana).

these people were searching for something…and somehow ended up here. thank you awstats for providing me with search keywords. i just can’t believe the stuff people want to look up:

do not disturb on forehead drawing
pictures of evil leprechauns
dallas diabetic cat sitters
david crowder does drugs
how much poop in my intestine
nose snot porn
catbutt
why do i still have fat in my middle
shaving armpits
ball passing hidden gorilla
does a body smell after an autopsy
redneck cold cures
infrequent booty calls

wow, if you have a way of doing this for your blog - i suggest you take a look.

let me know what you find!

yeah. i’m totally kidding.

but my husband sent me this story.

Pittsburgh-

(AP) Change for a million?

That’s what a man was seeking Saturday when he handed a $1 million bill to a cashier at a Pittsburgh supermarket. But when the Giant Eagle employee refused and a manager confiscated the bogus bill, the man flew into a rage, police said.

The man slammed an electronic funds-transfer machine into the counter and reached for a scanner gun, police said.

Police arrested the man, who was not carrying identification and has refused to give his name to authorities. He is being held in the Allegheny County Jail.

Since 1969, the $100 bill is the largest note in circulation.

Police believe the $1 million note seized at the supermarket may have originated at a Dallas-based ministry. Last year, the ministry distributed thousands of religious pamphlets with a picture of President Grover Cleveland on a $1 million bill.