50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True

by Harrison, Guy P.

  5. National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine, Science, Evolution, and Creationism (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2008), p. 7.

  CHAPTER 31: “INTELLIGENT DESIGN IS REAL SCIENCE.”

  1. Jonathan Marks, Why I Am Not a Scientist (Berkley: University of California Press, 2009), pp. 118–19.

  2. John Brockman, ed., Intelligent Thought: Science versus the Intelligent Design Movement (New York: Vintage Books, 2006), p. 22.

  3. Michael Shermer, Science Friction (New York: Times Books, 2004), p. 199.

  CHAPTER 33: “MANY PROPHECIES HAVE COME TO PASS.”

  1. Koran 54:1.

  CHAPTER 34: “PRAYER WORKS!”

  1. “How Monks Find Their Happy Groove,” CNN, November 19, 2008, http://articles.cnn.com/2008–11-19/health/brain.meditation_1_buddhist-monks-meditation-brain?_s=PM:HEALTH (accessed February 19, 2011).

  2. Save the Children, “State of the World's Mothers,” http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6748295/k.BE47/State_of_the_Worlds_Mothers_2011_Statistics_and_Facts.htm (accessed May 11, 2011).

  CHAPTER 35: “RELIGIONS ARE SENSIBLE AND SAFE. CULTS ARE SILLY AND DANGEROUS.”

  1. All quotes from Deborah Layton can be found in Guy P. Harrison, “Facing the Darkness,” Caymanian Compass, October 25, 2002, p. A10.

  CHAPTER 36: “THEY FOUND NOAH'S ARK!”

  1. “Most Americans Take Bible Stories Literally,” Washington Times, February 16, 2004, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/feb/16/20040216–113955-2061r/ (accessed February 18, 2011).

  2. For more details about the Noah's Ark replica tourist attraction, see Ark Encounter, http://arkencounter.com/faq/.

  CHAPTER 38: “HOLY RELICS POSSESS SUPERNATURAL POWERS.”

  1. David R. Arnott, “Thousands Gather to See a Hair from the Prophet Mohammad's Beard,” MSNBC, February 16, 2011, http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/16/6064520-thousands-gather-to-see-a-hair-from-the-prophet-muhammads-beard (accessed March 3, 2011).

  2. Joe Nickell, Relics of the Christ (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2007), pp. 18–19.

  3. Ibid.

  4. Ibid., p. 21.

  5. Ibid., p. 190.

  CHAPTER 39: “A TV PREACHER NEEDS MY MONEY.”

  1. Hanna Rosin, “Televangelist Jim Bakker's Road to Redemption,” Washington Post, August 11, 1999, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/daily/aug99/bakker11.htm (accessed March 23, 2011).

  2. “Track Owner Pledges $1.3 Million to Roberts,” New York Times, March 22, 1987, http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/22/us/track-owner-pledges-1.3-million-to-roberts.html?src=pm (accessed March 23, 2011).

  3. Wayne King, “Swaggart Says He Has Sinned; Will Step Down,” New York Times, February 22, 1988, http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/22/us/swaggart-says-he-has-sinned-will-step-down.html (accessed September 12, 2011).

  4. Dan Harris, “Benny Hinn: ‘I Would Not Do This for Money,’” ABC News, October 19, 2009, http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/benny-hinn-evangelical-leader-senate-investigation-speaks/story?id=8862027 (accessed March 23, 2011).

  5. Ric Romero, “Preacher Sells Debt Removal through Prayer,” KABC-TV, February 28, 2011, http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/consumer&id=7984766 (accessed March 2, 2011).

  6. James Randi, “The Amazing Randi Wants You to Think,” Caymanian Compass, June 1, 2000, p. A12.

  CHAPTER 40: “GHOSTS ARE REAL AND THEY LIVE IN HAUNTED HOUSES.”

  1. Harris Poll, “What People Do and Do Not Believe In,” Harris Interactive, December 15, 2009, http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/Harris_Poll_2009_12_15.pdf (accessed March 11, 2011).

  2. Linda Lyons, “Paranormal Beliefs Come (Super) Naturally to Some,” Gallup News Service, November 1, 2005, http://www.gallup.com/poll/19558/paranormal-beliefs-come-supernaturally-some.aspx (accessed March 15, 2011).

  3. Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, “Many Americans Mix Multiple Faiths,” Pew Forum, December 9, 2009, http://pewforum.org/Other-Beliefs-and-Practices/Many-Americans-Mix-Multiple-Faiths.aspx (accessed March 10, 2011).

  4. Paul Parsons, “Just an Illusion?” Focus (BBC), November 2010, p. 31.

  5. Terrence Hines, Pseudoscience and the Paranormal (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2003), p. 92.

  6. Parsons, “Just an Illusion?” p. 32.

  7. Lyons, “Paranormal Beliefs.”

  8. Christopher Bader, Carson Mencken, and Joseph Baker, Paranormal America (New York: New York University Press, 2010), p. 73.

  9. Joe Nickell, The Mystery Chronicles: More Real-Life X-Files (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2004), p. 138.

  CHAPTER 41: “BIGFOOT LIVES AND CRYPTOZOOLOGY IS REAL SCIENCE!”

  1. Fernando Carbayo and Antonio C. Marques, “The Costs of Describing the Entire Animal Kingdom,” Trends in Ecology and Evolution 26, no. 4 (February 7, 2011): 154–55, http://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169–5347%2811%2900017–6#bib0015 (accessed February 14, 2011).

  2. C. Mora, D. P. Tittensor, S. Adl, A. G. B. Simpson, and B. Worm, “How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean?” PLoS Biol 9, no. 8 (2011): e1001127. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127.

  3. Robert Kunzig, “20,000 Microbes under the Sea,” Discover, March 2004, http://discovermagazine.com/2004/mar/cover (accessed April 8, 2011).

  4. Christopher D. Bader, Carson F. Mencken, and Joseph O. Baker, Paranormal America (New York: New York University Press, 2010), p. 106.

  5. Curtis Wienker, interview with the author, March 21, 2011.

  6. Bob Young, “Lovable Trickster Created a Monster with Bigfoot Hoax,” Seattle Times, December 5, 2002, http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20021205&slug=raywallaceobit05m (accessed July 1, 2011).

  7. Timothy Egan, “Search for Bigfoot Outlives the Man Who Created Him,” New York Times, January 03, 2003, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/03/us/search-for-bigfoot-outlives-the-man-who-created-him.html (accessed July 3, 2011).

  8. Cameron M. Smith, interview with the author, March 21, 2011.

  9. “Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science,” Talk of the Nation, NPR, November 10, 2006, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6469070 (accessed December 22, 2010).

  10. Greg Long, The Making of Bigfoot: The Inside Story (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2004), pp. 443–51.

  11. Ibid., p. 336.

  12. Jeff Meldrum, Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science (New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2006), p. 44.

  CHAPTER 42: “ANGELS WATCH OVER ME.”

  1. Hebrews 13:2.

  2. Frank Newport, “Americans More Likely to Believe in God Than the Devil, Heaven More Than Hell,” Gallup News Service, June 13, 2007, http://www.gallup.com/poll/27877/Americans-More-Likely-Believe-God-Than-Devil-Heaven-More-Than-Hell.aspx (accessed November 3, 2010).

  3. David Kinnaman, “New Research Explores Teenage Views and Behavior Regarding the Supernatural,” Barna Group, January 23, 2006, http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/164-new-research-explores-teenage-views-and-behavior-regarding-the-supernatural?q=angels (accessed February 23, 2010).

  4. Heather Mason Kiefer, “Divine Subjects: Canadians Believe, Britons Skeptical,” Gallup News Service, November 16, 2004, http://www.gallup.com/poll/14083/Divine-Subjects-Canadians-Believe-Britons-Skeptical.aspx (accessed March 11, 2011).

  5. James Randi, An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural (New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1995), p. 11.

  6. Christopher D. Bader, Carson F. Mencken, and Joseph O. Baker, Paranormal America (New York: New York University Press, 2010), p. 184.

  7. Ibid., pp. 185–86.

  8. Ibid., p. 185.

  CHAPTER 43: “MAGIC IS REAL AND WITCHES ARE DANGEROUS.”

  1. BBC News, “Nigeria ‘Child Witch Killer' Held,” BBC News, December 4, 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7764575.stm (accessed February 12, 2011).

  2. Salman Ravi, “Village ‘Witches' Beaten,” BBC News, October 20, 2009, http://new
s.bbc.co.uk/2Zhi/south_asia/8315980.stm (accessed February 12, 2011).

  3. BBC News, “Indian ‘Witchcraft' Family Killed,” BBC News, March 19, 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4822750.stm (accessed February 13, 2011).

  4. James Uribarri, “Mobs in Haiti Kill ‘Witches' Accused of Intentionally Spreading Cholera,” New York Daily News, December 3, 2010, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/12/03/2010–12-03_mobs_in_haiti_kill_suspected_witches_accused_of_intentionally_spreading_cholera_.html (accessed February 1, 2011).

  5. “African Churches Denounce Children as Witches,” MSNBC/ Associated Press, October 17, 2009.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Graham Wood, “Hex Appeal,” Atlantic, June 2010.

  8. Watch the video of Sarah Palin being protected from witches and witchcraft on YouTube: “Sarah Palin Gets Protection from Witches,” YouTube video, 9:47, from ceremony where Thomas Muthee of the Assembly of God provides “special supernatural protection from witchcraft” to Sarah Palin on September 23, 2008, posted by “nyprogressive,” September 23, 2008, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl4HIc-yfgM (accessed February 10, 2011).

  9. David W. Moore, “Three in Four Americans Believe in Paranormal,” Gallup News Service, June 16, 2005, http://www.gallup.com/poll/16915/three-four-americans-believe-paranormal.aspx (accessed March 11, 2011).

  10. Michelle Mead, interview with the author, March 2, 2011.

  CHAPTER 44: “ATLANTIS IS DOWN THERE SOMEWHERE.”

  1. Paul Rincon, “Satellite Images ‘Show Atlantis,’” BBC News, June 6, 2004, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3766863.stm (accessed February 20, 2011).

  2. BBC News, “Atlantis ‘Obviously Near Gibraltar,’” BBC News, September 20, 2001, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1554594.stm (accessed February 11, 2011).

  3. BBC News, “Tsunami Clue to ‘Atlantis' Found,” BBC News, August 15, 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4153008.stm (accessed February 20, 2011.)

  4. Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, “American Piety in the 21st Century,” Baylor University, September 2006, p. 45, http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/33304.pdf (accessed December 12, 2010).

  5. Theodore Schick and Lewis Vaughn, How to Think about Weird Things (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011), p. 7.

  6. Bob Ballard, interview with the author. Quoted in Guy P. Harrison, “Deep Secrets,” Caymanian Compass, June 13, 2002, p. 14.

  7. Plato describes Atlantis in two of his dialogues: the Timaeus and the Critias.

  8. Kenneth L. Feder, Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2010), p. 33.

  CHAPTER 45: “I'M GOING TO HEAVEN WHEN I DIE.”

  1. Guy P. Harrison, “God Is in This Place,” Caymanian Compass, November 19, 1993, pp. 10–11.

  2. Frank Newport, “Americans More Likely to Believe in God Than the Devil, Heaven More Than Hell,” Gallup News Service, June 13, 2007, http://www.gallup.com/poll/27877/Americans-More-Likely-Believe-God-Than-Devil-Heaven-More-Than-Hell.aspx (accessed March 22, 2011).

  3. Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us,” Pew Research Center Publications, January 7, 2011, http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1847/how-religion-divides-and-unites-us-david-campbell-conversation-transcript (accessed March 22, 2011).

  CHAPTER 46: “SOMETHING VERY STRANGE IS GOING ON IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE.”

  1. Michael Shermer, Why People Believe Weird Things (New York: MJF Books, 1997), pp. 54–55.

  2. Larry Kusche, The Bermuda Triangle Mystery—Solved (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1995), pp. 117–18.

  3. Ibid., p. 118.

  4. Ibid., p. 120.

  5. Ibid., p. 276.

  6. Ibid., pp. 275–77.

  7. Ibid.

  8. Naval Heritage and History Command, “The Bermuda Triangle,” http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq8–1.htm (accessed March 7, 2011).

  CHAPTER 47: “AREA 51 IS WHERE THEY KEEP THE ALIENS.”

  1. Joe Nickell, “The Story behind the ‘Alien Autopsy' Hoax,” Science Daily, May 7, 2006, http://www.livescience.com/742-story-alien-autopsy-hoax.html (accessed February 22, 2011).

  2. Seth Shostak, interview with the author, April 6, 2011.

  3. William B. Scott, “The Truth Is out There: A Veteran Reporter Describes His Search for the Aircraft of Area 51,” Air and Space, September 1, 2010, http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/The-Truth-is-Out-There.html?c=y&page=1 (accessed November 12, 2010).

  4. Ibid.

  5. Phil Patton, “6 Top-Secret Aircraft That Are Mistaken for UFOs,” Popular Mechanics, February 18, 2009, http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/aviation/ufo/4304207 (accessed March 1, 2011).

  6. Depending on the angle from which it is observed, Lockheed's P-791 can look like an ordinary blimp or an alien spacecraft straight out of Hollywood casting: “Hybrid Air Vehicle (P-791),” Lockheed Martin, http://www.lockheedmartin.com/products/p-791/ (accessed February 22, 2011).

  7. Northrop Grumman has information and photos of the X-47B: X-47B UCAS, Northrop Grumman, http://www.as.northropgrumman.com/products/nucasx47b/index.html (accessed February 17, 2011).

  CHAPTER 48: “THE MAYANS WARNED US: IT'S ALL OVER ON DECEMBER 21, 2012.”

  1. Mark Van Stone, “2012 FAQ,” Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, http://www.famsi.org/research/vanstone/2012/faq.html (accessed November 2, 2012).

  2. Michael Drosnin, Bible Code II (New York: Touchstone, 1998), p. 230.

  3. Ibid., p. 186.

  4. Ian Oneil, “2012 Alien Invasion? Um, No,” Discovery News, December 27, 2010, http://news.discovery.com/space/the-2012-alien-invasion-um-no.html (accessed March 20, 2011).

  5. Brian Handwerk, “2012: Six End-of-the-World Myths Debunked,” National Geographic, November 6, 2010, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091106–2012-end-of-world-myths.html (accessed March 2, 2011).

  6. David Morrison, “2012 and Counting,” Skeptic, http://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/2012-and-counting/ (accessed October 19, 2011).

  7. Ibid.

  CHAPTER 49: “THE END IS NEAR!”

  1. Frank Newport, “One-Third of Americans Believe the Bible Is Literally True,” Gallup News Service, May 25, 2007, http://www.gallup.com/poll/27682/OneThird-Americans-Believe-Bible-Literally-True.aspx (accessed January 30, 2011).

  2. Steve Crabtree, “New Poll Gauges Americans' General Knowledge Levels,” Gallup News Service, July 6, 1999, http://www.gallup.com/poll/3742/new-poll-gauges-americans-general-knowledge-levels.aspx (accessed March 24, 2011).

  3. Harris Poll, “A Third of Public, Including Three in Five Republicans, Support the Tea Party Movement and about a Quarter Oppose It,” Harris Interactive, March 31, 2010, http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/Harris_Interactive_Poll_Tea_Party_Opposition_2010_03.pdf (accessed March 23, 2011).

  4. LiveScience staff, “Quarter of Republicans Think Obama May Be the Anti-Christ,” LiveScience, March 25, 2010, http://www.livescience.com/8160-quarter-republicans-obama-anti-christ.html (accessed March 23, 2011).

  5. Revelation 9.

  6. Guy P. Harrison, “God Is in This Place,” Caymanian Compass, November 19, 1993, p. 11.

  7. Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, “American Piety in the 21st Century,” Baylor University, September 2006, p. 45, http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/33304.pdf (accessed December 12, 2010).

  8. Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Near (New York: Penguin, 2006). See also Joel Garreau, Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies—And What It Means to Be Human (New York: Broadway, 2006).

  CHAPTER 50: “WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!”

  1. “Dark Matter, the Bringer of Life,” New Scientist, April 9, 2011, p. 16.

  2. Hugo de Garis, The Artilect War (Palm Springs, CA: ETC, 2005), p. 25.

  3. Jennifer Viegas, “Human Extinction: How Could It Happen?” Discovery News, http://news.discovery.com/hum
an/human-extinction-doomsday.html (accessed September 5, 2011).

  Aaronovitch, David. Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History. New York: Riverhead, 2010.

  Bader, Christopher, F. Carson Mencken, Joesph Baker. Paranormal America. New York: New York University Press, 2010.

  Barrett, Stephen, and William T. Jarvis, eds. The Health Robbers: A Close Look at Quackery in America. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1993.

  Bausell, R. Barker. Snake Oil Science: The Truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.

  Belanger, Jeff, ed. Encyclopedia of Haunted Places. Franklin Lakes, NJ: Castle Books, 2008.

  Bennett, Jeffrey. Beyond UFOs: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Its Astonishing Implications for Our Future. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008.

  Berlitz, Charles. Atlantis: The Lost Continent Revealed. London: Fontana/ Collins, 1985.

  Berlitz, Charles, and William L. Moore. The Roswell Incident. New York: Berkley Books, 1980.

  Blackmore, Susan. Beyond the Body. Chicago: Academy Chicago Publishers, 1992.

  ——. Dying to Live: Near-Death Experiences. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1993.

  ——. In Search of the Light: The Adventures of a Parapsychologist. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1996.

  Bostrom, Nick, and Milan M. Cirkvoic, eds. Global Catastrophic Risks. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

  Brockman, John, ed. Intelligent Thought: Science versus the Intelligent Design Movement. New York: Vintage Books, 2006.

  Brockman, Max, ed. What's Next? Dispatches from the Future of Science. New York: Vintage, 2009.

  Buh, Joshua Blu. Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.

  Calder, Nigel. Magic Universe: A Grand Tour of Modern Science. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

  Carroll, Robert Todd, ed. The Skeptic's Dictionary. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2003.

  Cayce, Edgar. Edgar Cayce on Atlantis. New York: Paperback Library, 1968.

  Chabris, Christopher, and Daniel Simons. The Invisible Gorilla and Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us. New York: Crown, 2010.