1 Well, back in the day, when I was in high school and a young Democrat I did see something strange one time.  Does that count? 

2 Sarah,

Seems Democrats are dumber than I thought!

I would be hesitant to label Democrats as "dumber" on the basis of this survey because even smart people can indulge in wishful thinking.

Conversely, I've long assumed that the skeptic community - Penn and Teller aside - is mostly  Leftist. But I really don't know.

For the record, I have never seen a ghost, talked to the dead, believed in a fortuneteller, or done yoga.

Same here.

Interesting study. I'd like to know the why behind the results. The fact that Republicans tend to be more traditionally religious (and hence less New Age-y) is of course a big factor, but it can't be the sole cause.

Here's one finding that stands out if one believes America has become more secular over time (emphasis mine):

Nearly half of the public (49%) says they have had a religious or mystical experience, defined as a "moment of sudden religious insight or awakening." This is similar to a survey conducted in 2006 but much higher than in surveys conducted in 1976 and 1994 and more than twice as high as a 1962 Gallup survey (22%). In fact, this year's survey finds that religious and mystical experiences are more common today among those who are unaffiliated with any particular religion (30%) than they were in the 1960s among the public as whole (22%).

I wonder what all that means. Has anyone here felt such a moment?

Ruth,

Well, back in the day, when I was in high school and a young Democrat I did see something strange one time.  Does that count? 

Nah. I see and hear things I can't explain too - even after I stopped being a Leftist! We're not omniscient, and that's OK. What is not OK is automatically assuming we've seen alien spacecraft or ghosts. UFOs are by defnition unidentified. Just because we can't identify it doesn't mean it's alien. We should keep our minds open without going out of our minds.

3 Amritas -- That's why I said I was being snarky in the title.  I am just poking some fun...

4 No seriously Democrats believe in that stuff and the vast majority of republicans believe that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...lol

5

I'm not at all surprised by these results--many "progressives" have long believed in things like astrology, magical crystals, various mysterious "forces", etc.

I *would* be interested to see these results broken down by gender...I think in general, women are more likely than men to have beliefs of this type, and on the average women are also more politically Democratic. (My hippie college girlfriend eventually became a witch...I doubt that there are too many Republican witches.) The dems-believe-in-spooks data may actually be an artifact of the intersection of gender religious belief patterns with gender political preference patterns.

 

 

6

I don't see what the big deal is.

Of course they talk to the dead.  How else do you expect the dead to know who to vote for?

7 I've seen a ghost.  And I believe in magic.  I've done lots of yoga and really enjoy it -particularly the hot kind.  And I'd kind of like to be a witch.  And I used to see and try to read auras.  I'm not sure if this all makes me stupid, but I'm pretty conservative and almost always vote Republican, except when I vote Libertarian.  I love our country because I'm allowed to believe what ever the heck I want and because you're allowed to call me stupid.  That's okay and good and not offensive.  I'm glad we all get to choose what we believe in.  I do draw the line at orbs though.  I'm much more inclined to believe science on that one.  

8 I want to make Matt's comment my FaceBook status...holy smokes that's hysterical! Okay, I totally believe in horoscopes as a description of someone's personality...not a day to day indicator of what's going to happen like a fortune cookie. I seriously think there is some possible scientific explanation...like cosmic forces having an effect on a developing child. So not so much the date of the child's birth would have an effect on their personality, but that cosmic forces would have an effect on the in utero development from conception.