Pointless polls

I don't understand this. The LA Times reports on a Pew Survey that reports that 92% of Americans have been deluded into believing in a god or universal spirit, and what do they do? They tag a poll onto it! It looks like a bunch of Aberrant Americans have already found the poll, because it is returning results that don't line up well with the Pew poll … so let's go make it a little worse.
So, what do you think? Do you agree with the Genocide Awareness Project's stance that abortion is genocide?
How about this one? On Monday, California became the second state in the nation to legally recognize same-sex marriages. Do you think gay marriages should be legal in Colorado? "No" is currently leading.
I'm going to give you a choice today. If you've only got a moment and want to click a button and be done with something fairly trivial, vote on whether to impeach Bush. For a change, if you've got a half hour or so and would like to contribute data to serious research, take Elisabeth Cornwell's research survey. I think we could add a large dollop of godless attitudes to her work. (Hmmm…I should do a poll on who would rather crash a poll vs. take a serious survey!)
I'm a little disappointed in the possible answers to this question, Do you think the religious right exerts too big an influence over public policy? You can reply "Not Sure", "No", and "Yes", but there doesn't seem to be a "HELL YES!!!!" option.
In a fluff story about George Takei (Sulu!) getting married to his partner of 21 years, WNBC takes the tacky step of including a poll asking, "Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry?" Please. How ridiculous. When the cheesy news was full of Britney Spears or Angeline Jolie or the movie star of the moment planning their nuptials, did these sites run polls asking if these people should be married? When did it become legitimate "news" to question people's personal decisions about partnerships?
Now South Carolina is offering one of those inane "I BELIEVE" license plates to drivers in their state, and yay, we've got a stupid poll to crash! You can vote "Thumbs up" or "Thumbs down" on it, which was a bit of a dilemma for me — I kind of like the idea of the credulous being clearly labeled, and would approve of the idea of having "I BELIEVE" stamped on their foreheads if they wanted it. I resolved it by answering as if I were given the choice of getting this plate, to which I would say "NO WAY".
It's part of an article about an atheist billboard for the Greater Philadelphia Coalition of Reason, which sounds great. Alas, the Inquirer marred it with a stupid internet poll that asks, "Do you believe in God?" Haven't they learned yet that these things are easily skewed? Go show them that atheists can be organized, too. Take a look at the comments while you're there, too — I like the one that says, "If this guy ever gets diagnosed with terminal cancer I guarantee he takes that billboard down so fast your head will spin." It's an admission that religion is built on fear.
Recall the car dealership ad that suggested that non-Christians sit down and shut up? A poll by a television station asks, Does the Kieffe and Sons Ford ad make you want to buy a car from the dealership? The only choices are "yes" and "no" — they don't even include "no, it convinces me to never buy anything from those clowns", so the poll is a bit biased already. Would you believe that right now 31% are saying "yes"? They like car salesmen who discriminate.
So, 9% of the respondents at this Genome Technology poll think creationism should be taught alongside evolution in science class, and another 3% think it should be left up to the school. I think someone else must be making an effort to crash a poll — let's counter their feeble efforts, shall we? (via Evolution, Life and other musings)