Follow The Numbers

I had a little too much today of people saying or writing things authoritatively about how things were in the old days in cultural or political matters. People didn't keep their guns in their nightstand at night when I grew up around here. Well, maybe so, but could you cite some sort of confirming evidence of that/  I like numbers myself, but I would take something like I remember it coming up in conversation more than once, sitting around in the camp after a day of hunting.  Why my uncle... That's still not stunning.  Maybe it was the same four uncles every time, and that is just one town and a limited number of years, but at least it's something. Everyone in this town went to church every week in those days...I remember seeing some "interesting" numbers from the early 60s when I did a church 100th anniversary history in the 80s. Church attendance was much higher, sure. But really? Only half of my neighborhoods went.  I'm only counting about eight houses each time, and maybe I just happened to have a depressing effect on church attendance, even as a child...

Give me some numbers. I can take it. Damned lies and statistics gets quoted frequently, but trust me, your accuracy is much worse when you have no statistics.  And statistics can be made to tell the truth.  You grab them by the collar, shove them against the wall, and make them tell you who their friends are.