tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post4062797217947443218..comments2024-03-25T17:35:02.238-04:00Comments on Debunking Christianity: The Elves of Iceland: "Hidden People" and "Nature Spirits"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-63531130897451054662009-08-27T13:03:08.886-04:002009-08-27T13:03:08.886-04:00I'm pretty late to the game but I have to say ...I'm pretty late to the game but I have to say this as a folklorist and someone who took a class taught by the very man who did the poll about belief in elves...<br /><br />13% deny completely the existence of elves, 7% deny the existence of flower elves and 6% deny the existence of ghosts.<br /><br />About 41% think it is possible that ghosts exist and 18 think it is very likely. 37% think it is possible that hidden people/elves exist and 17% think it is very likely.<br /><br />Only 8% are positive that elves or hidden people exist and 13% are positive about ghosts.<br /><br />19% think it is very unlikely that elves or hidden people exist and 16% regarding ghosts.<br /><br />As you can see of those numbers, very few believe hardcore in elves/hidden people. It is more like - eh, they could exist, I just don't know.<br /><br />So please don't compare Icelanders to hardcore Christians in the US :)helgadisbjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06293268917155684897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-3745106054619228932009-03-16T06:51:00.000-04:002009-03-16T06:51:00.000-04:00Blessaður Hjalti!interesting numbers by Dr. Erlend...Blessaður Hjalti!<BR/><BR/>interesting numbers by Dr. Erlendur.<BR/><BR/>17% being either sure they exist or not ruling them out, is still quite many. I think the numbers are higher in the country, and lower in the Reykjavík area.<BR/><BR/>(just like evangelicalism is stronger in the countryside in the U.S., and weaker in the large cities)Abukristhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12372219771385753842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-89215725727493354852009-03-15T15:01:00.000-04:002009-03-15T15:01:00.000-04:00And those numbers about belief in "hidden people" ...And those numbers about belief in "hidden people" are way too high, according to the only survey I have access to at the moment (by dr. Erlendur Haraldsson) ~10% say that their existence is possible and ~7% say they are sure that they exist.<BR/><BR/>And the president is possibly an atheist (married to a jew! :P) and there are maybe up to three ministers atheists.<BR/><BR/>Hæ, Sindri :)Hjaltihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03663871073350593776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-18077855105786005612009-03-13T20:26:00.000-04:002009-03-13T20:26:00.000-04:00Is someone going to give these people the benefit ...Is someone going to give these people the benefit of the doubt and provide an argument for their nonexistence? How is it supposed to go?Victor Repperthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10962948073162156902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-45986206678123972262009-03-13T17:34:00.000-04:002009-03-13T17:34:00.000-04:00Yes I come from Reykjavik, I didn´t remember the P...Yes I come from Reykjavik, I didn´t remember the President´s later statement and I will recant my former statement about him being an open atheist. and I also did not take in account the country people, I at least have never met anyone that does really believe in elves, well maybe one: Magnús Skarphéðinsson but he doesn´t countUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02688683871738771317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-47990329016107009682009-03-13T17:27:00.000-04:002009-03-13T17:27:00.000-04:00she lid a candle, not "kindle", don't know what I ...she lid a candle, not "kindle", don't know what I was thinking.Abukristhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12372219771385753842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-26690776251754192582009-03-13T17:22:00.000-04:002009-03-13T17:22:00.000-04:00John, I am currently reading your book. I like it....John, I am currently reading your book. I like it. <BR/><BR/>I was a youth pastor in a pentecostal church, and also taught bible classes in mid-week, etc. I rejected Christianity and eventually became an Atheist due to similar reasons as you did.Abukristhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12372219771385753842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-29663565162963776412009-03-13T17:19:00.000-04:002009-03-13T17:19:00.000-04:00Oskar, I remember Ólafur Ragnar having denied repe...Oskar, I remember Ólafur Ragnar having denied repeatedly and thoroughly being an Atheist. He is formally the head of the Icelandic State church now. I still remember Christians that did not vote for him, because they simply didn't buy into his statements about not being an atheist, since they remembered what he had said earlier.<BR/><BR/>John W. Loftus. www.vantru.is sometimes bashes believes in hidden people, especially when pictures are shown of them in the media.<BR/><BR/>Oskar, according to poll data, a lot of Icelanders really believe in elves and hidden people, and even more of them do not rule them out.<BR/><BR/>My wife at one point claimed that she had met a some sort of fairy woman, or a "hidden" witch, in a certain mountain for example.<BR/><BR/>Where in the country do you live? (Reykjavík I guess) When I was working in the East fjords, many of my co-workers were talking about elves and hidden people over there, and one girl I worked with lid a kindle in the office I was working most days, to honor them.<BR/><BR/>She also believed she was a white witch, and that her sister was an evil black magic witch. Silly people.Abukristhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12372219771385753842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-56996539403310049462009-03-13T11:55:00.000-04:002009-03-13T11:55:00.000-04:00JohnI really do not have any links for sites that ...John<BR/>I really do not have any links for sites that bash elf belief no more than we have sites that bash geocentricism, there a a few that truly believe in them but there are also people that deny the germ theory I am sure.<BR/>I think Quercus hit the nail on the head, it is more a sense of tradition than anything else.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02688683871738771317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-34224086947700258032009-03-13T11:47:00.000-04:002009-03-13T11:47:00.000-04:00Sindri, if you remember the first time he ran for ...Sindri, if you remember the first time he ran for office he was asked about his believes and his answer was "I believe in man" ("ég trúi á manninn").<BR/>as for the PM I have no idea about her believes, I did not even know she was gay until a month ago.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02688683871738771317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-18694754787632065792009-03-13T11:46:00.000-04:002009-03-13T11:46:00.000-04:00Thanks for your comments everyone. I do not think ...Thanks for your comments everyone. I do not think less of Icelanders at all. Maybe we Americans have just as many horoscope readers. We certainly have our high percentage of believers in angels and demons (our "hidden people"). I was going by the links I found. If you have other links then share them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-2752145975241915262009-03-13T10:52:00.000-04:002009-03-13T10:52:00.000-04:00I think that you are being unnecessarily critical ...I think that you are being unnecessarily critical of Iceland.<BR/><BR/>People in Iceland do believe in elves, in the sense that Americans say they believe that "America is the best place in the world"<BR/><BR/>But that is not the same as saying that Icelanders believe in elves the way that we know that gravity exists.<BR/><BR/>Icelanders should not be compared to fundamentalist Protestants in regards to belief in elves, as the two are rather different.Charles Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05607313117747464572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-34394267813255497322009-03-13T09:04:00.000-04:002009-03-13T09:04:00.000-04:00I don't think our President is an atheist (Ólafur ...I don't think our President is an atheist (Ólafur Ragnar). Are you talking about the Prime minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir? It could be that she is an Atheist. I don't know. At least it would be a stretch to call her "openly" atheist as far as I know.Abukristhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12372219771385753842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-13852791181880541092009-03-13T05:55:00.000-04:002009-03-13T05:55:00.000-04:00"Political suicide". Not exactly.Our President is ..."Political suicide". Not exactly.<BR/>Our President is openly atheistic.<BR/>To use the Elf School as an measuring stick for Icelanders is as ridiculous as using the Disco institute for Americans, in fact I had not heard of this Elf school until I read PZ and I have lived in Iceland for 30 years.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02688683871738771317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-21916731590770538312009-03-12T19:15:00.000-04:002009-03-12T19:15:00.000-04:00It's OK, Sindri. In Norway they're having similar...It's OK, Sindri. In Norway they're having similar problems, if what I hear about Narvik is any indication.<BR/><BR/>Of course in Norway they don't have elves, they have trolls: http://www.geocities.com/<BR/>intrepidberkeleyexplorer/Page29M.html.<BR/><BR/>Kind of like this blog, when you think about it.Northlanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00769117142960558423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-9504256999835957862009-03-12T19:07:00.000-04:002009-03-12T19:07:00.000-04:00Hey! The elves told us to do it! (ok, not really.)...Hey! The elves told us to do it! (ok, not really.)<BR/><BR/>But it seems to me that the UK and Swistserland, for example, are in just as dire straights as we are in now, due to similar "sins".Abukristhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12372219771385753842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-28357012512274666372009-03-12T18:15:00.000-04:002009-03-12T18:15:00.000-04:00Elves AND foreign collateralized debt obligations....Elves AND foreign collateralized debt obligations. Is there no limit to the nonsense that Icelanders will believe in :)Northlanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00769117142960558423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-55313042355804657082009-03-12T17:38:00.000-04:002009-03-12T17:38:00.000-04:00But I have to say, that it would not be a politica...But I have to say, that it would not be a political suicide in Iceland to say that elves do not exist.Abukristhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12372219771385753842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-48340921390545892782009-03-12T17:30:00.000-04:002009-03-12T17:30:00.000-04:00Just today, 4 hours ago, my daughters, 2, and 4 ye...Just today, 4 hours ago, my daughters, 2, and 4 years old, were watching a childrens show, on national television, about the elves, and the invisible dwarfs. They were told that they have to respect the elves, and live in piece with them and be good to them, and not to disturb nature, unless consulting the elves first.<BR/><BR/>Best regards, <BR/>Sindri from IcelandAbukristhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12372219771385753842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-1341872992238996442009-03-12T10:07:00.000-04:002009-03-12T10:07:00.000-04:00Belief in elves = a sense of tradition, respect fo...Belief in elves = a sense of tradition, respect for nature, diverted roads.<BR/><BR/>Belief in Jesus = persecutions, pogroms, crusades, holy wars, subjugation of women, abandonment of reason, environmental collapse, hatred, intolerance, cultural genocide, selfish and nonsensical ideas of "sin" and "salvation", the horrible mess we find ourselves in today.<BR/><BR/>Just because you find a belief to be silly does not mean it is an evil on par with monotheism.Quercushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06783758070058697443noreply@blogger.com