Tuesday 18 September 2012

"Support for Traditional Marriage Is Collapsing" (Based On Anti-Equality Activists Polling)

Today we have a new Angus Reid poll out on the topic of marriage equality.

The overall results are, in my opinion, pretty positive for the marriage equality cause. 46% (+3 since January) think same-sex couples should be allowed to legally marry; 33% would allow same-sex couples to form civil partnerships, but not marry; 14% believe same-sex couples should not have any kind of legal recognition 
A simple majority supporting marriage equality and a very impressive overall majority supporting legal partnership rights for same sex couples. Which only serves to throw extra light upon the deceptive questions used in the two ComRes polls this year to try to make the anti-equality side look popular.

The first poll was so extraordinarily outrageous that it staggers me that even the Telegraph could bring itself to write about it. But they did and presented, as fact, the idea that 70% of the population oppose marriage equality.

I cannot believe that Catholic Voices had the audacity to ask people to agree or disagree with a statement about marriage without mentioning marriage equality at all and then present it as evidence that their position had the support of 70%(!) of the country. Even more unbelievably some commentators continue to quote this figure now!

Scotland for Marriage tried the same trick afterwards and got the result that 55% of Scots were opposed.

Well Angus Reid managed to be quite thorough and asked before a direct, straightforward question about support for marriage equality to get the above results and asked a similar question to ComRes to find 43% say they would vote to support the statement "To define marriage as between a man and a woman" and 43% said they would define it as between two people.

Now based on these polls I can come to only one conclusion: support for the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman is collapsing at a rate of knots. From 70% to 43% in less than a year? The anti-marriage equality campaign must be going well then...

Of course I'm being facetious, and don't believe there has been any such collapse. I just believe the 70% figure was complete baloney! And to see it quoted so often by the anti-marriage equality crowd only serves to strengthen my belief that they will stoop to any level to try and win. Which just doesn't seem very Christian to me at all.

You can make polling say anything and if you really have to rely on fixing them to prove your case, then perhaps you need to re-evaluate that case again.

Don't let them get away with mentioning it any more and make sure you leave a comment under any article you see pointing out the deceit behind the statement.

If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist

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