This does not bode well for those of us who want men and women of faith involved in leadership role, whether in politics, education, business, etc.

The gallup poll deemed that nurses were considered most ethical (84%). Others who finished ahead of the professional clergy were pharmacists (73%), veterinarians (71%), doctors (69%), dentists (62%), and engineers (61%). This is a sea change since I was a boy and poins out that there is something terribly amiss in our society.

But the bright side is the professional clergy is viewed as more ethical than the police (54%), psychiatrists (38%), journalists (26%), lawyers (18%), Congressmembers (14%) and advertising executives (11%). And for those of you who want to be car salesmen only 7% of Americans view you as ethical. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of a chosen profession.

IBMAGG

I wonder what percent of this board would consider you 'highly ethical'?

Rab -I know I can count on you!

PS -I would not be considered part of the professional clergy as I never got paid for my service but had a real day job.

[This message has been edited by ibmagg (edited 12/30/2006 2:25p).]

Let's hear it for the engineers !!!!!!!

No link?

None that I can figure out how to post. It was in the religion section of the Dallas Morning News on the left side of page one under the section called "Revelations" with the title "At least they finished Ahead of us".

Here you go NoAc

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/DN-rev_30rel.ART.State.Edition1.3e4dd81.html

imbagg, the low rating for the clergy comes from the countless scandals involving Catholic priests molesting children and the high profile preachers and "evangelists" who live like rock stars.

Over the last decade we've seen Jimmy Swaggart, Oral Roberts, Jim and Tammy Baker, Pat Robertson and several others fall from grace. Bless his heart, Billy Graham pretty well stands alone in having been in his position of public trust for decades without any scandal. He's a Rock of Gibraltar.

quote:

---

Billy Graham pretty well stands alone in having been in his position of public trust for decades without any scandal. He's a Rock of Gibraltar.

---

ro - You are correct when you say Billy Graham has preached for years without scandal, but you are wrong when you say he stands alone. Many, many, many Catholic priests and protestant ministers have done the same, but are not as well known.

73 -Unfortunately, their voices and much of their influence has been drowned out. It didn't use to be that way. It is another sign of the times.

Their voices are not drowned out if you bypass the "mainstream" media via the internet. Your problem is that you read stuff in the newspaper, and then that becomew your worldview. The newspapers are a very poor source for balanced information. They only want to sell more newspapers by reporting the really bad stuff. If you want to hear great Catholic preaching, go to http://www.fathercorapi.com . I'm sure the prots on this board can direct you to others as well.

2006 Honesty and Ethical Ratings Summary

Very high/High% Avg% Very low/Low% NET HIGH

Nurses 84 14 2 82
Pharmacists 73 23 4 69
Veterinarians 71 23 2 69
Med. doctors 69 26 6 63
Dentists 62 34 4 58
Engineers 61 33 3 58
College teachers 58 32 7 51
Clergy 58 29 9 49
Policemen 54 34 11 43
Psychiatrists 38 42 12 26
Bankers 37 52 10 27
Chiropractors 36 48 10 26
Journalists 26 48 25 1
State governors 22 52 26 -4
Business exec 18 53 27 -9
Lawyers 18 42 38 -20
Stockbrokers 17 56 23 -6
Senators 15 49 35 -20
Congressmen 14 45 40 -26
Insurance salesmen 13 51 34 -21
HMO managers 12 45 37 -25
Advertising 11 49 35 -24
Car salesmen 7 36 55 -48

[This message has been edited by flechenbones (edited 12/31/2006 9:33a).]

Here is the Gallup link though it might require registration or watching an ad to access.
http://www.galluppoll.com/content/?ci=25888&pg=1

While I believe that scandals do cost the clergy, I read an article recently (maybe someone posted it here) where a member of the clergy was arguing that they should stay out of politics because it is tarnishing their image as men/women of God. Notice that politicians are pretty low on there.
The insistence by some to deny basic science could also have an effect, particularly since that has been in the news a lot the past few years. I know several students who have been dismayed to find that they had been mislead.

Texasag73, I meant that Graham stands alone among high preachers who have become high profile "megastars" who are constantly in the public eye.

That's why Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life," practices 'reverse tithing': he keeps 10% of his income, 90% goes to the church. He knows the importance of keeping his feet on the ground and his eyes on Jesus.

The Eagles it up so concisely long before most of y'all were born:

"Life in the fast lane surely make you lose your mind..."

It is important to understand that those who advise that people of faith stay out of politics and do basicaly nothing but vote could not be more wrong.

This is a destructive teaching which has moved us away from the Founder's principles. The idea that religion should be compartmentalized, that is its influence and its activities should be limited soley to the inside of the four walls of the Church was a teaching of, among a few others, Robert Ingersol, a leading secular humanist. His ideas were were gradually accepted at the turn of century and the churches began to extract themselves from the position of moral conscience and ethical influence that it had exercised for decades. The Protestant and Catholic Churches and their adherents have now so removed themselves from these disciplines that the statistics show that only half of the "Christian" community even voted in recent elections. You can compare this to 1824 when Daniel Webster ran for the U.S. House and there was 100% voter turnout in that election; and of the 5,000 eligible voters, Daniel Webster received 4,990 votes. As Presidential James Garfield explained: "Now, more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that great body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption."

The second destructive teaching that has become widely accepted is that we are not to examine the private life of an individual who runs for public office because private behavior has nothing to do with how he will discharge his public duties. But, it is an unchangeable truth that if an individual is corrupt in his private dealings, he will be corrupt in his public dealings! We should all remember this statement from an early textbook: "Public character is no evidence of true greatness, for a public character is often an artificial one. It is not, then, in the glare of public, but in the shade of private life, that we are to look for the man. Private life is always real life. Behind the curtain, where the eyes of the million are not upon him...There he will always be sure to act himself; consequently, if he act greatly in private, he must be great indeed. Hence it has been said, that, 'Our private deeds, if noble, are noblest of our lives.'...It is the private virtues that lay the foundation of all human excellence.

You should have by now noticed that when the private life was divorced from the public, coupled with the discouragement of people of faith in public arenas, we have had not only a change in the quality of our leaders but also a change in the philosophy. When God-fearing individuals remove themselves from an arena, their values depart with them; and when unGodly individuals enter an arena, their values enter with them.

The bottom line: Get involved in the body politic.

IBMAGG