Free Inquiry (Publication of Center for Inquiry and SecularHumanism.org)
October / November 2012 Vol. 32 No. 6
Political orientation. The results of a 2010 telephone survey of Free Inquiry readers. ranging from Socialist to Progressive, including Liberal, but not counting the figure for Moderate (12%) the total is 75%. From centrist to conservative the figure is 13%
I would conclude from this, that presentations of speakers at Center for Inquiry or articles in Free Inquiry with politically left leaning social concerns do not run the risk of alienating many followers of Center for Inquiry or Secular Humanism. Indeed, The Humanist magazine of the American Humanist Association is already publishing some articles, especially by David Swanson that lean in a left social justice and anti-war direction.
These figures are found on PAGE 18 in an article by Tom Flynn titled “Does Secular Humanism Have a Political Agenda? Interesting, Flynn uses the somewhat unflattering phrase “The results ... could be read as buttressing that charge,” rather than a more self flattering phrase, such as “What is re-assuring is that we count as liberal.”
Are Skeptical Inquirer and Free Inquiry, Center Stage, and Point of Inquiry, intended to be neutral factual journalism? I don’t know, maybe they are meant to be forums that allow their writers/guests just promote their ideas candidly? None of these are the mainstream news.
Of course they are not journalism. They don’t pretend to be journalism or news reporting. Why did you bring that up?
They present, presumably, people who pretty much share the same world view. And judging from the results of the survey, just as an example, that world view is NOT anti-government un-restricted free market fundamentalism. - Gary
... do not run the risk of alienating many followers of Center for Inquiry or Secular Humanism.
... lean in a left social justice and anti-war direction.
- Gary
You complained, Gary. I simply contrasted them from the mainstream news publications.
Has the left-wing more fully embraced the Enlightenment values of science, citizens’ rights, experimentation, than the right? I think so, IMHO. But you don’t really think that justice is a leftist idea do you Gary, isn’t it just a universal idea?
It’s good to hear you say that Gary. Obviously, Ron Lindsay isn’t on the left-wing. Bob Price is another example, and surely there are others. Isn’t Reason magazine slanted to the right?
So do the CFI magazines lean to the left or right? Humm, maybe, I say, but they’re not meant to be unbiased news, right?
Free Inquiry (Publication of Center for Inquiry and SecularHumanism.org)
October / November 2012 Vol. 32 No. 6
Political orientation. The results of a 2010 telephone survey of Free Inquiry readers. ranging from Socialist to Progressive, including Liberal, but not counting the figure for Moderate (12%) the total is 75%. From centrist to conservative the figure is 13%
I would conclude from this, that presentations of speakers at Center for Inquiry or articles in Free Inquiry with politically left leaning social concerns do not run the risk of alienating many followers of Center for Inquiry or Secular Humanism. Indeed, The Humanist magazine of the American Humanist Association is already publishing some articles, especially by David Swanson that lean in a left social justice and anti-war direction.
These figures are found on PAGE 18 in an article by Tom Flynn titled “Does Secular Humanism Have a Political Agenda? Interesting, Flynn uses the somewhat unflattering phrase “The results ... could be read as buttressing that charge,” rather than a more self flattering phrase, such as “What is re-assuring is that we count as liberal.”
- Gary
It stands to reason, the more intelligent the person the more likely he/she is to be politically liberal. A political test could also be used as an IQ test and be quite accurate, even more accurate than actual IQ tests.
Quite true. I recall a study published a few months ago where a decent sized sample was given both IQ and political orientation tests, and there was a significant difference with liberals being somewhere between six and ten points, I believe, above the conservatives.
I am not a conservative but…..This thread is borderline pseudoscience…..wow, it is fun to manipulate statistics in a way that confirms what you already believe….confirmation bias ! Can you see it when it is brought to your attention ?
Not true. I’ve seen quite a few studies in other areas that arrived at conclusions I didn’t care for. The study I referred to was run by a number of psychologists, one of whom was a Libertarian. Quoting such a study may be an argument in favor of a position, but it isn’t the same a confirmation bias.
*shrugs* What do you want? This is what happens when people who more or less agree with each other gather. You see quotes and links to similar studies on largely conservative boards too. It’s all sadly amusing to me.
Occam, if I can clarify my position ( not sure if it is really possible…) there is no clear definition of liberal or conservative. There is so much overlap between the two positions….they are not a clear dichotomy. I very rarely read a statement by a liberal that would read like this…..“liberals are dumber than conservatives”......usually it is a finger pointing away…...and feel free to exchange liberal for conservative or for foreign or blue collar or…..you get the idea.
I doubt she’s trolling, but it sounds to me like she’s toeing a political line.
I’ve known a lot of extremely intelligent, thoughtful people in both camps over my lifetime. i expect I’ll encounter more as I go along. The ones who simply accuse the other side of being idiots because they hold a certain worldview…who throw out buzzwords like Liberal, Conservative, Communist, Nazi, Libertarian, Capitalist or (Fill in the blank) as if they somehow explain eveeeeeerrrrryyyyyything without bothering to go any further then that are themselves the brain dead party line toers.
Sine D.: First, sorry if your own confirmation bias sees Lois’ more liberal statements as trolling.
Second, I should have been more precise, The study tested whether the person was registered as a Democrat or a Republican. I extrapolated to liberal and concervative. However, the difference in IQ was still there.
It’s good to hear you say that Gary. Obviously, Ron Lindsay isn’t on the left-wing. Bob Price is another example, and surely there are others. Isn’t Reason magazine slanted to the right?
