That it does not matter what a man believes is a statement heard on every side today. The statement carries a fearful implication. The statement really means that it does not matter what a man believes so long as he does not take his beliefs seriously. -- Richard Weaver
It don't really matter to me baby,/ You believe what you want to believe, / You don't have to live like a refugee. -- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
People will believe what they want to believe. -- H.L. Mencken
Don't worry about the 1-percenters, or the 99-percenters, for that matter.
Worry about the 13-percenters.
Believe it or not, ha ha, 13 percent of Americans believe that President Obama is the Antichrist of biblical prophecy, according to a fresh new survey from Public Policy Polling.
Luckily, more people believe in Bigfoot, a whopping 14 percent.
More people believe the CIA "was instrumental in creating the crack cocaine epidemic in America’s inner cities in the 1980’s" -- another 14 percent.
Even more people, 15 percent, believe "media or the government adds secret mind-controlling technology to television broadcast signals" -- and they're probably right, considering 70 percent of us have had our minds controlled not to believe such a thing.
But only 13 percent believe Obama is the Antichrist.
Maybe I should seek out the 4-percenters. They've got the real insight. Unique perspective. They believe "shape-shifting reptilian people" control our world.
(Perhaps they're among the 26.2 percent of American adults who have a diagnosable mental disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.)
Apparently, some South Carolinians believe that Mark Sandford won't go hike the Appalachian Trail ever again, because he's the GOP's new (rerun?) candidate for the 1st District U.S. House seat.
That's not necessarily a bad belief. A bad belief might be, like, 9 percent of Americans believe the government adds flouride to the water for sinister reasons.
Ain't that America -- we can believe what we want to believe.
-Colin Foote Burch
