{"id":5856,"date":"2011-08-09T13:50:38","date_gmt":"2011-08-09T17:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/?p=5856"},"modified":"2011-08-13T13:13:10","modified_gmt":"2011-08-13T17:13:10","slug":"the-blaze-atheists-hijack-creationism-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/the-blaze-atheists-hijack-creationism-poll","title":{"rendered":"The Blaze: Atheists “hijack” creationism poll"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday, an internet news site, the Blaze,\u00a0<\/em>asked readers “Are some evangelicals beginning to question the existence of Adam and Eve?”<\/p>\n

“As is the case in all of the faith articles we compose,” writes editor Billy Hollowell,\u00a0“it was our goal to raise the question and then allow our audience to respond accordingly. So, at the end of the article, we decided to include a poll that asks a very simple and related question: How did mankind come about?”<\/p>\n

Many regular Blaz<\/em>e readers voted.<\/p>\n

“But so did others,” says Hollowell, “people who had a very different motivation for taking the poll.”<\/p>\n

A group of atheists launched a mini-campaign, spread the word and purposefully \u201chijacked\u201d the thoughtful poll so that the results landed in their favor, says the Blaze<\/em> editor:<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long after the poll was posted that something seemed odd with the results and the sources from which they were emerging. In addition to inflated anti-God numbers, we noticed that thousands (more than 5,000 at the time) of responses had come from Norway \u2014 an oddity considering the Blaze<\/em>\u2019s coverage, focus and readership.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Blaze<\/em> shut down the poll\u00a0due to\u00a0the atheist campaign to skew the results.<\/p>\n

The Blaze<\/em> began to notice the proportions within the poll evolving and changing.<\/p>\n

“As Tuesday progressed and Wednesday came, we realized that something was awry,” writes Hollowell. “As it turns out, a prominent atheist and professor of biology at The University of Minnesota\u2013Morris, named Dr. P.Z. Myers, was behind the statistical changes. On Tuesday, Myers ignited a mini-firestorm when he wrote a blog piece that read:<\/p>\n

His site, the Blaze<\/em>, has an article about these crazy conservative Christians who disagree with the mainstream view that there were precisely two people, Adam and Eve, who founded the whole human race. And it has a poll which is going in a predictable direction.<\/p>\n

Maybe we can change some of those numbers around.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He also posted a link to the article on Twitter:<\/p>\n

Following the post, efforts to \u201chijack\u201d the poll began almost immediately, says Hollowell.\u00a0A comment on Myers’ website by \u201cSpanish Inquisitor\u201d reported: \u201cAlmost up to 7% in less than 15 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 7:52 p.m., another commenter wrote: “Up to 34%. I voted early and often, and posted it on the chat for [another atheist website].<\/p>\n

“As the comments progressed,” writes Hollowell,\u00a0“they made clear the group\u2019s intention to destroy the poll, forcing the results to come up favorable to their own cause.<\/p>\n

“But whatever happened to making a solid case and then fairly proving it?” asks the obviously annoyed Hollowell.\u00a0“What was the point of these atheists\u2019 time-sucking exploits?”<\/p>\n

He reports:<\/p>\n

On Wednesday evening, I had the opportunity to speak with Myers about his anti-poll sentiment and the resulting activity on behalf of his atheist friends. The discussion was intriguing. When asked why, he called the poll \u201csilly\u201d — and why he asked respondents to \u201cchange some of those numbers around,\u201d he said:<\/p>\n

\u201cAll internet polls are silly. They\u2019re kind of pointless. It was a question to a select audience. You know what answer you\u2019ll get. They\u2019re kind of pointless in that sense\u2026it\u2019s a pointless poll. What we like to do is have a little fun with it\u2026we like to shake them up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Myers claims that he and his fellow atheists opposed the poll because it \u201creinforces peoples\u2019 views\u201d and acts as a sounding board. But, when asked how his site \u2014 which is geared toward atheists and which has a very narrow scope through which it views a variety of issues \u2014 differs from this description, his response fell flat (and it was, frankly, quite condescending):<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who come to [my] blog are better educated. The comments on the Blaze<\/em> were appalling. It was incredible how bad the arguments were.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he initially said they (he and his atheist friends) like to tinker with \u201cconservative\u201d polls, he then said that \u201cany\u201d internet poll that the group deems \u201csilly\u201d might be altered in this way.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE to read more<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday, an internet news site, the Blaze,\u00a0asked readers “Are some evangelicals beginning to question the existence of Adam and Eve?” “As is the case in all of the faith articles we compose,” writes editor Billy Hollowell,\u00a0“it was our goal to raise the question and then allow our audience to respond accordingly. 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