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Friday, Nov 2, 2012 1:10 PM UTC

Poll: Most Republicans believe in demonic possession

Meanwhile, less than half think humans are responsible for climate change

By , Alternet

Topics: Republican Party, Global Warming, Christine O'Donnell, AlterNet, Climate Change, Demonic Possession, Witchcraft

Poll: Most Republicans believe in demonic possession Former Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell, R-Del. (Credit: Wikipedia/Gage Skidmore)
This article originally appeared on AlterNet.

AlterNet Less than one week away from the election, a terrifying new poll reveals that more than two-thirds of registered Republican voters believe that people can be possessed by demons.

A staggering 68 percent of registered Republican voters stated that they believe demonic possession is real. Meanwhile, only 48 percent of self-identified Republicans believe in another equally if not more scary natural phenomenon: climate change.

The poll was conducted by Public Policy Polling, touted by NPR as “one of the most prolific polling outfits in the country.”

The survey was filled with enlightening gems about how the supernatural world may affect the upcoming presidential race. Women were slightly more likely than men to believe in demonic possession, although this gender gap is not nearly as wide as that of women’s preference for Obama.

In a classic example of cognitive dissonance, only 37 percent of registered voters–both Democrat and Republican–believe in ghosts, although 57 percent believe in demonic possession. This raises the question, which was ignored in the presidential debates along with other essential issues like climate change and the educational system, about what the possessing force would actually be. (Perhaps Karl Rove?)

For registered Republicans who do believe in demonic possession (which is, again, the majority), there is at least one standout elected official who is taking this issue seriously and has educated himself about spiritual exorcism.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has written a first-hand account about witnessing an exorcism while he was in college.

“Kneeling on the ground, my friends were chanting, ‘Satan, I command you to leave this woman.’ Others exhorted all ‘demons to leave in the name of Christ,’”Jindal wrote.

Jindal made presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s short list for VP picks–but, according to the Associated Press, this story of exorcism was a strike against the governor. (The Public Policy Poll hadn’t come out yet.)

Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell also has considerable knowledge of witchcraft, although this expertise didn’t win her the race in 2010.

“I dabbled into witchcraft — I never joined a coven,” she said to ABC . “But I did, I did. I dabbled into witchcraft. I hung around people who were doing these things. I’m not making this stuff up. I know what they told me they do,” she said.

“One of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar, and I didn’t know it. I mean, there’s little blood there and stuff like that,” she said. “We went to a movie and then had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar.”

The poll also revealed that zombies are considered to be the scariest monster, another issue that has not been raised at all on the campaign trail.

Whether the two candidates will address these issues within the last week of the race remains to be seen.

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