The Illogical Use of Polls

Salutations.

Throughout the pandemic, our news media pushed poll after poll in front of our face. What do Americans think of the pandemic? What about the vaccine? What about Trump’s approach? What about Biden’s? Below are just a few polls I easily pulled up by looking through the news today.

• Polls find most Republicans say 2020 election was stolen and roughly one-quarter embrace QAnon conspiracies
• New poll shows election audit unpopular with Arizona voters
• Poll: Half of voters support the border wall, matching record
• POLL: Should employers be allowed to require covid vaccines for employment?

Now, I could write in-depth article on the subject of how polls are conducted. How the pollsters word the questions, and who they question can have a huge variance on the poll’s results. However, for the sake of my thoughts today, I wish to avoid that particular quagmire. For this discussion, let us suppose that polls are conducted in a fair manner.

With that said, my initial point here is that media outlets use polls often to push a narrative or a particular point. After all, America is a democracy, right? If 51% of Americans think a course action is right, then our government should legalize it! If 55% think another action falls short of expectations, we should change course!

The idea that we believe, as a group, that the majority is always right staggers me. We have countless examples from history where a majority group in a particular country supported political groups and actions that many of us consider absolutely abhorrent. Even in this country, a few decades ago, a majority of Americans would vote against abortion and gay marriage. Now, a majority would vote for it? Who is right? 

Progressives and liberals would argue that, as a race, we grown in wisdom over time. Therefore, the way that the majority votes today must inherently be a better direction. Yet conservatives would argue that we should be slow to let go of older ideas and ethics. Just because the majority recently flipped on a decision does not mean it is the right direction to go. After all, a majority of Germans supported Hitler’s rise to power.

Both approaches defy something we all know intuitively. The question of ethics, right versus wrong, does not change daily, annually or even every century. Murder has been and always shall be wrong. We believe slavery, once embraced by many in this country, has always been ethically corrupt; they simply had it wrong back then. 

The Bible warns us that true ethics comes from the One who gave us life. It goes so far as to suggest that without Him, nothing is good. Furthermore, unlike us, God does not change His mind every so often. He remains the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows,” 1 Chronicles 16:11-12

No ship can steer its own course without a map, and external, objective ways to measure where they are currently at. Back in the day, ships used landmarks and stars to determine their location. They then used maps to plot the course based on that information. Today, we try to move forward, as a society, without neither reference nor direction. The result we see today are masses who frequently change their mind on important issues.

The Bible makes it clear that with God we all stand condemned. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin are death and eternal separation from Him. It then gives us a course to steer by. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whomsoever believes on Him shall not parish but have everlasting life.” Once we put our faith in Him, we become ‘born again’ as the Spirit gives us a new heart. This new heart He gives will lead us in a more ethical direction as we seek to glorify Him in thanks for His sacrifice.

Do not be lead astray by the false prophets today who follow the majority. Follow the One, who stood against all of the powers and majorities of His day to die for your sins on a cross.  He will never leave you or forsake you, unlike today’s modern culture.