The Is Obama the anti-Christ poll
I first heard about this widely reported poll on Twitter, from Public Address:
Poll: A third of conservatives believe Obama could be the Antichrist. 18% are certain he is: http://bit.ly/2WY48F
My tweet back was:
lunacy but you forgot to mention in same poll a third of dems think gwb knew of 911 attacks in advance.
And PA:
Yes, that’s in the link. But IMO, believing Obama to be the Antichrist is orders of magnitude more weird.
And my response:
have to agree. In fact thinking anyone is the antichrist is pretty far gone.
Anyway I’ve thought a lot more about the poll. It has been widely reported as proof that a large segment of the US right are deranged. So it got me interested in finding the full poll results.
The first thing I notice, in the poll of 500 New Jersey residents, is that it is an automated telephone poll. This means the respondents push buttons on their phone, they are not speaking to an actual person.
So immediately I am suspicious that many of those responses may be in jest. Hell, if I received a recorded voice saying
“Do you think Murray McCully is the Anti-Christ? If yes, press 1, If no, press 2. If you’re not sure, press 3″
well once I’d stopped laughing I’d be pretty tempted to press 1 or 3 
Now is there any proof for my theory many voters may have been taking the piss. Let us look at the crosstabs. Overall 8% said yes he is, and 13% were not sure. And the shock figure was 18% of conservatives said yes he is, and 17% were not sure
- 5% of those who voted for Obama in 2008 said he is the Anti-Christ and a further 5% said they were not sure
- 6% of moderates said Obama was the Anti-Christ and 13% were unsure
- 6% of Democrats said Obama was the Anti-Christ and 7% were unsure
- 24% of Hispanics said Obama was the Anti-Christ and 18% were unsure
- 11% of African-Americans were unsure if Obama is the Anti-Christ
- 24% of those aged under 30 said Obama was the Anti-Christ and a further 18% were not sure
The last stat especially reinforces my suspicion many were taking the piss. Does anyone really think over 40% of under 30s do not know if Obama is the Anti-Christ?
So more under 30s and more Hispanics said Obama was the Anti-Christ, than conservatives did. But that is not such a sexy headline.
Now don’t get me wrong. I am sure there are some conservatives who think Obama is the Anti-Christ. And they are scary. But is it a very small minority of the conservative movement, or as much as one in three as the poll headline suggested? I say the former.
And some other unusual results:
- 31% of 2008 Obama voters think Bush knew of the 911 attacks in advance
- 4% of 2008 Obama voters want to eliminate the Federal Government, as do 6% of McCain voters
- 21% of Democrats do not think or are not sure if Obama was born in the US
- 11% of Republicans think Bush knew of the 911 attacks in advance
- 6% of Democrats want to eliminate the Federal Government, and only 5% of Republicans
- 50% of African-Americans think Bush knew of the 911 attacks in advance
- More Hispanics and African-Americans said they want to eliminate the Federal Government than Whites
My conclusion would be that one should be wary of using automated phone polling for controversial statements. People are far more willing to push a digit on a phone for something they do not believe, than actually tell an actual human being the same thing.
September 21st, 2009 at 2:11 pm
But IMO, believing Obama to be the Antichrist is orders of magnitude more weird.
More weird? Certainly. More offensive, tasteless and damaging? Absolutely not.
Good point about phone polls, btw, and I would also add that 500 New Jersey residents is not a good cross-section of US conservatism.
September 21st, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Yes, this is biased I know but I loved this line “you know that how?” Errr…I don’t know, maybe an education? Classic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUPMjC9mq5Y&feature=player_embedded
September 21st, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Obama the Anti-Christ is fucking ridiculous. Everyone knows DPF is.
September 21st, 2009 at 2:23 pm
DPF was right the first time Murray McCully is the anti christ……
September 21st, 2009 at 2:27 pm
“I would also add that 500 New Jersey residents is not a good cross-section of US conservatism.”
Yeah, without a good proportion of mid-west and bible belt in particular. West Coast would balance that a bit.
Quite a lot is starting to be written about the growing protest and unease and “weird” claims in the US, how it is being exploited, but also how much genuine and widespread disillusionment there is in government. Antichrist and birth certificates and race are just fringe symptoms for a lot of people pissed of with government. The growth in this has happened to coincide with Obama’s election so obviously he is the target for a lot of flack. I suspect if McCain had got in and hadn’t “fixed” government by now he would be copping disgruntlement too, similar to Key here.
September 21st, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I personally believe there’s going to be or has been an anti-christ, but whether or not Obama is, I can’t say I care.
I’m pretty sure I saw someone making a case for that being Bill Clinton, seems to be whoever is in power. History is a lot bigger than what’s happening this second.
September 21st, 2009 at 2:47 pm
So, DPF we could summarise this as “ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer?” Hell, a ten year old knows that.
On Bush knowing of the 911 attacks in advance, it depends what you mean by knowing. Did Bush (and Clinton before him) know that Al Queda had an intent to commit a major attack on US Soil? Yes. Did they know that it would take the form of flying planes into the World Trade Centre on 11th September? No. Again, phone polling, push button for the answer, how do we know what people were thinking when they pushed that button.
No disrespect to your business DPF, but many polls aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. And the newspapers that use them for their sensationalist headlines are a large part of the problem.
Interesting that they ask what I’d consider to be a handful of useful questions (approval ratings stuff) and then a bunch of what I’d consider to be stupid questions “is Obama the antichrist”, “did Bush know about 911″, “was Obama born in the US”. Are those really the political issues people care about in the US at the moment?
On Obama’s birth certificate, my American friends tell me that Obama was born outside the continental US, but broadly speaking in an American territory. McCain also had problems around eligibility, having been born on a US military base that might also not quite qualify under the rules (but who wants to be saying he can’t be President because his father was a soldier – especially with his war time record). In short, neither party really wanted to make a big deal of this, and so it was ignored during the campaign.
September 21st, 2009 at 2:47 pm
After the Reagan assasination attempt I would point out that Ronald Wilson Reagan had 6 letters in each name, and that he was shot and survived- Revelation 13:3 says “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast”.
It was fun while it lasted.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:00 pm
No disrespect to your business DPF, but many polls aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.
I thought that was kinda his point.
Maybe they didn’t get a human to ask the question because it’d be a bit off-putting to be rung up by someone giggling and trying to ask a question…
September 21st, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I wonder what percentage of the MSM think he is the second coming?
September 21st, 2009 at 3:06 pm
That 24% figure on Hispanics looks like a language issue could have been involved as well.
I believe research shows that in spite of low response rates automated phone polls are quite reliable (i.e. don’t perform much worse than more-costly manual polls).
That said, that may work when the questions is who will you vote for. May not work when the question is as loaded and crazy has “press c for antichrist”!
Btw, this malware alert thing sucks!!!
September 21st, 2009 at 3:09 pm
cerium>The growth in this has happened to coincide with Obama’s election
No way! Democrats in the US (and the Left just about everywhere else) have been absolutely bat shit crazy for the eight years of the GW Bush Administration.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:23 pm
No way! Democrats in the US (and the Left just about everywhere else) have been absolutely bat shit crazy for the eight years of the GW Bush Administration.
They had this crazy theory that the government lied about their reasons for invading Iraq! Also, they thought that the CIA was secretly torturing people and that the government was spying on US citizens!
September 21st, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Reckon “Are automated phone polls the anti-Christ?” would hit 100%.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:32 pm
have been absolutely bat shit crazy for the eight years of the GW Bush Administration.
And they’re still batshit angry. Still, I don’t suppose you can easily relinquish such pent-up hate and aggression.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:44 pm
It just seems that the batshit is becoming a bit more active. But yes, there are raving nutters all over the spectrum over there.
September 21st, 2009 at 4:00 pm
The Bible says there are many Antichrists in the world.
Their have been many others labbelled A/C and indeed they were.
Not the Beast of REvelations 13.
He will be a complete copy cat of Christ.
Age, marital status, ethnicity, speech, oratory power, perhaps even bloodlines.
And the Bible says it will take wisdom to know him.
Only the bible believing world citizens will know him for who he is. Therefore they will be the most persecuted when he arrives. Probably shortly before as they will make a lot of sense and become a threat to the cabal behind him.
Perhaps Obama is the John the Baptist for the A/C. Opening the way for him.
At any rate, the A/C cannot arrive on the world scene ahead of God’s schedule.
The dark forces that control the world elite behind the scenes have had to learn patience as God permits them to only be able to move in his time frame.
Gods message for the world is in His Gospel which is Gods promise to the world. The evil in this world has no power over Gods promises. The wise who see this are the last who will be first. This includes druggies, prostitutes, gang members and prisoners who turn their lives to repentance in Christ.
The first will be last for it is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven for his riches are enough.
The world elite belileve they can change DNA to give them eternal life. It may even be possible, but God will obstruct that because it goes against His word. It is written ‘For once it is appointed for man to die and then the judgement.’
This therefore shows us we are near the end of the age. When science can manipulate DNA to give eternal life against Gods ruling, the time is short.
The time is ripening for the one world ruler. Certainly the One World Order ordained by G W Bush back in 1991 is ready to be launched. But the world must be weakened even more for him to be accepted.
The test of Obama’s presidency as spoken by his vice president, Joe Biden, is about to be foisted on the world stage.
September 21st, 2009 at 4:28 pm
you just can’t get past the fact that only 39% of americans think evolution is a theory with any merit..
and you can bet the weighing to the reactionary vs the progressive will be even higher than that..
face it dpf..(spin this all you like..).
but your ideological comrades in america…
are..in the main..superstition-riidden/prefudiced/homophobic/ignorant knuckledraggers..
eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
September 21st, 2009 at 5:34 pm
@wikiriwhis business:
So the dark forces have to work to God’s timeframe? And God has decreed that the anti-christ shall come? I don’t get it – why doesn’t he just decree that the anti-christ shouldn’t come if he has that much power over them. It would seem a whole lot easier.
If the anti-christ is a complete copy cat of christ, including age, will he be 2,000 years old? Or age at death? Which death (given Christ rose again). But won’t he get older as soon as he arrives, and then not be a copy cat any more?
If the world elite believe that they can control DNA to give eternal life, do you have a brochure or a phone number so I can join up? Being part of the world elite sounds like fun, and eternal life would be pretty nifty. Last I heard nobody had sorted that one, but certainly some modern medical technology is doing a wonderful job of extending life expectancy. Do you habitually deny medical treatment so as to not be part of the world elite?
Do you have a link to the One World Order that GW Bush ordained? I presume it was in a speech or something. I’d like to see how he’s going to deal with those pesky Chinese in his new world order, presumably it will come about via the UN? I don’t recall him being all that chummy with the UN (something about an invasion of Iraq), but maybe it was all an elaborate facade? Actually, wasn’t that the first George Bush in 91?
September 21st, 2009 at 7:58 pm
heh good luck with that paul
September 21st, 2009 at 8:36 pm
I tend to agree with Ben
‘That 24% figure on Hispanics looks like a language issue could have been involved as well. ‘ (could account for the under 30′s as well)
Anti christ may be interpreted as Against Christianity.
When you consider the smearing about his Muslim associations it is quite possible that those that didn’t quite understand the question just made a stab at an answer.
Whats your opinion about ‘Youth in Asia’?
September 21st, 2009 at 9:43 pm
LOL
Isn’t the interpretation of Scripture alive and accurate in these radical Republicans?
As interesting as American politics seems (sighs) the label of Anti-Christ has been thrown around quite controversially over the last several decades and it comes as no surprise that there are still some Americans that desperately cling to this pathetic notion that Obama is indeed the Anti-Christ.
The same was said for Bill Clinton in the 1900′s, and even for George W Bush throughout his term as president. The simple fact of the matter here is simple – “There is rampant misinformation being spread around that makes unbiblical statements about the antichrist, attempting to create links with Barack Obama. One of the most common states that the antichrist will be a man of Muslim/Arab descent, in his 40s, and will rule for 42 months (close to the length of a U.S. presidency). The Bible nowhere says anything about the ethnicity, religion, or age of the antichrist. Further, Barack Obama vehemently denies accusations that he is a Muslim, and he is not of Arab descent.”
Also, Barack Obama claims to be a Christian and claims to have faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior. While anyone can make such claims, it seems highly unlikely that the antichrist would even claim/pretend to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
In fact the same claims were distributed quite commonly in Hitlers reign as the Chancellor of Germany.
I think this is nothing more than evidence that Obama will remain President of the United States for as long as the constitution provides for, with desperate and baseless accusations from the far Right that make such foolishly wild accusations its no surprise that there will not be a stable opposition force for the current administration when the next general election comes around again.
September 21st, 2009 at 9:55 pm
What people refer to as the anti-Christ in the book of Revelation is in reality somewhat less sensational than what some suggest. For an informed theological exposition of the passages in Revelation see 666 The Number of the Beast.
In case you cannot be bothered clicking, it is not Obama.
September 21st, 2009 at 10:06 pm
i heard it was john key..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
September 21st, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Madeleine,
Isn’t 666 the mark of the Beast, but is the number of Man?
September 21st, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Madeleine have you tried this site?
It’s also very good.
Ryan: No, 666 is the start and end-code number on barcodes… All very spooky, isn’t it?
September 21st, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Nonsense, Reid.
http://www.snopes.com/business/alliance/barcode.asp
September 21st, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Glad we cleared that up, maybe it’s RFIDs..
September 21st, 2009 at 10:35 pm
The Mark of the Beast is Facebook. Trust me on this.
September 21st, 2009 at 10:36 pm
You know Madeleine, every time I visit one of your links I learn something interesting. I confess to not being religious, nor having particularly studied the bible. My view of Christianity is therefore probably a little shallow, and some of this stuff about the anti-christ, and similar (frankly) weird interpretations doesn’t help. Reading what Matt had to write was really interesting (won’t make me a Christian any time soon, but certainly gives me some interesting context).
For those who haven’t clicked the link, I’ll put a bit more summary on – the imagery around the relevant bits of the bible makes it likely that the “beast” was Nero, and the number of the beast was associated with a common way at the time to turn people’s names into numbers (Nero’s name collapses to 666 in Roman, 616 in Latin, and some translations of the bible have 616 as the number of the beast).
To quote: “What the text does then is warn against false prophets who, claiming to speak on behalf of God, command people to worship the state.”. And this is the anti-christ, not Obama.
As I say, interesting and thought provoking.
September 21st, 2009 at 10:53 pm
“you just can’t get past the fact that only 39% of americans think evolution is a theory with any merit..”
Neither do you Philu, unless of coarse you are now feeding your dogs food that they “evolved” to eat.
September 21st, 2009 at 10:55 pm
And just to think, when it comes to Nero, how different things could have been.
September 21st, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Some Christians seem to want the anti christ to show up, personally from my experience I would think that there is more chance of “it” showing up within the church than the Democratic party.
Perhaps if the Christians that tend to fear monger spent more time addressing the credibility crisis that is currently ravaging the church, people would be more likely to listen to their opinions on some of the pressing issues of our time.
When 911 happened many people started saying it was judgement from God on America, one preacher who I respect stated that if it really were judgement from God the planes would have hit churches, “the judgement of God starts in the household of God”
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:18 am
Nah the mark of the beast is what this chick called Kirsty who I knew in Palmy in the 80s left on your back after a shagging session.
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:19 am
Thankyou PaulL, Matt will be chuffed to hear that. Come back anytime
Glenn Peoples (another thoughtful NZ Christian blogger) has a funny but too often true comic pic on his blog that sums up the all too common problem. In it a christian guy is watching TV and the announcer says “And now representing the Christian Perspective: the biggest crackpot we could find…” the Christian sighs knowing oh so well how it works.
Feedback Matt and I get all the time runs along the lines, “you and Matt are different, you’re not like other Christians, your faith is much more reasoned and makes much more sense.” What is frustrating is that most Christians we know are like us, most of the Christian blogs we link to are like us. We are not that different…
Like every group in society, Christianity has its fools and it has a range of people who know precisely why they believe what they believe and can give detailed intelligent accounts of both through to the other end of the spectrum where one somewhat randomly holds the position, cannot give a cohesive reason as to why and when they attempt to contradict themselves and mistakenly represent the core positions. Christianity is not alone in having its ‘members’ cross this spectrum and of course most are somewhere in the middle, well away from the extremes, but the faith does tend to get judged more harshly for having this range and the range is typically portrayed less evenly too which is unfortunate because, like you said, even if you don’t believe, it is still interesting.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Madeline, the problem with your “spectrum” approach to the issues within Christianity is it just creates a situation where weak leaders end up running the show. There is a reason for the continuing decline of Christianity in our society, and I will give you a hint, it has nothing to do with all those evil heathen running around the place.
It is the continuing trend of ingrained insecurity in believers that causes all the wrong people to become leaders of the church, it is a hard job trying to find a christian leader worth following or even listening to at the moment.
Perhaps its time to start demanding a bit of humility from some of the arrogant pricks that claim to be the leaders of Gods people.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Made me laugh, thanks for that.
Completely agree, also the good work that allot of Christans and christian groups (i.e. Auckland City Mission) goes completely unnoticed. Whilst its a pretty well known fact I am not a Christian, my sis and mother are both fall into that reasonable group, who look at scripture as a guide but that it isnt exactly to be taken as a literal interpretation.
Thing is the most outspoken are generally the ones on the fringe, also allot of people have had fairly bad run ins with more evangelical groups which taint their view.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
To understand who the Antichrist is one needs to understand Daniel’s prophecy of the end times; especially regarding the time period known as Daniel’s 70th week. These ‘weeks’ are weeks of years; 1 week equals 7 years, 70 weeks equals 490 years. Without going into all the background, the scripture makes it clear that he is indeed a man. Right back in Genesis 3:15 we see the allusion to the coming Messiah; the seed of the woman, and the coming Antichrist; the seed of the serpent. Just as Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of the seed of the woman (an allusion to the virgin birth) and was a literal man, so too the Antichrist, the seed of the serpent (Satan), will also be a literal man.
In Summary:
The 69th week of Daniel concludes with the Messiah being cut off (crucified). There is a hiatus between the conclusion of the 69th and the beginning of the 70th week – commonly known as the ‘Church Age’ – we are in that ‘gap’ at the moment.
After Christ’s crucifixion we know that the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. The Romans are identified as the “people of the prince that shall come” in Dan 9:26 above. So clearly this ‘prince’ is yet future. Daniel 9:27 further clarifies how to identify him and the timeframe of his reign: “he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week” – this is a reference to some kind of peace treaty between the many; Israel and those sought on her destruction. So when an individual confirms/facilitates a peace treaty between Israel and her enemies this will both identify the Antichrist, and will also kick off the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week. Remember that the 70th week is a period of 7 years. “[I]n the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease” – this reveals two things; this prince (Antichrist) breaks the covenant with Israel half way through the week (7 years), and that the Jewish temple exists (has been rebuilt) as this is the only place where Jews can carry out “sacrifice[s] and the oblation”.
This puts an interesting spin on current events when you observe the ongoing push for ‘peace in the Middle East’; and therefore allusions to some form of peace treaty, and the continual push by Israel for the rebuilding of the temple (which must exist at the beginning of the 70th week). There are many other scriptural references regarding the Antichrist, but I believe the individual who facilitates the above mentioned ‘peace treaty’ will clarify any misconceptions as to his identity.
Whether he is Obama only time will tell, but what ever the case his ‘unveiling’ is, I believe, close at hand.
My warning to all is; make sure you choose to follow the ‘right’ Prince before time runs out.
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:24 pm
^^
There is always one haha.
Do I get a free Ipod if I sign up with the AC, if so hes got my vote.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:08 am
The anti christ will not be American so that rules out Obama. The Anti-christ will be Jewish (just like Jesus) how can the anti christ impersonate the messiah if he is from a different faith?