U.S. survey reveals widespread ignorance about religion

[coffeeFreak]

Here's an interesting read and validates my perspective of the religious and in particular Christians (only because of personal experience). During the few years I spent among Christians I was continually surprised at how cocooned many of their lives are within the church; such as, socializing, babysitters, businesses supported, books and magazines read, movies watched, music listened to, education, youth activities, entertainment, family camps,...the list could go on. I could never understand it. Anyway here's some food for thought:

U.S. survey reveals widespread ignorance about religion

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Sep. 28, 2010 9:46PM EDT

Americans are by all measures a deeply religious people, but they are also profoundly ignorant about religion, according to a new survey. Those who scored the highest were atheists and agnostics, as well as two religious minorities: Jews and Mormons. On average, people who took the survey answered half the questions incorrectly, and many flubbed even questions about their own faith. The results were the same even after the researchers controlled for factors such as age and racial differences.

53: Percentage of Protestants who could not identify Martin Luther as the man who started the Protestant Reformation.

45: Percentage of Catholics who did not know their church teaches that the consecrated bread and wine in holy communion are not merely symbols but actually become the body and blood of Christ.

43: Percentage of Jews who did not know that Maimonides, one of the foremost rabbinical authorities and philosophers, was Jewish – the question that the fewest people answered correctly.

51: Percentage who knew Joseph Smith was Mormon.

82: Percentage who knew Mother Teresa was Roman Catholic.

54: Percentage who knew the Koran is the Islamic holy book.

21: Average number of correct answers, out of the 32 questions, given by atheists and agnostics, the highest scorers.

20: Average number of correct answers given by Jews and Mormons.

16: Average number of correct answers given by Protestants.

15: Average number of correct answers given by Catholics.

Mormons and white evangelical Protestants: They got the highest number of correct answers to questions about the Bible and Christianity.

Atheists, agnostics and Jews: They got the most number of correct answers to questions about world religions, such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism.

Buddhism: Less than half identified it as the Dalai Lama’s religion.

Scriptures and other books: More than a third said they read the Bible or other Holy Scriptures at least once a week, not counting worship services, but nearly half who are affiliated with a religion said they “seldom” or “never” read other books or visit websites about their own religion.

General knowledge: In addition to questions about religious knowledge, the survey included nine general knowledge questions for comparison purposes. These show, for example, that about three in five Americans can name the Vice-President of the United States, and 42 per cent know that Herman Melville was the author of the novel Moby Dick – but 4 per cent thought it was Stephen King.

Muslims: More than two-thirds knew that most Pakistanis are Muslims, but only about one quarter correctly answered that most people in Indonesia – the country with the world’s largest Muslim population – are Muslims as well.

Why Atheists?

“I have heard many times that atheists know more about religion than religious people,” said Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists, an advocacy group for nonbelievers. “Atheism is an effect of that knowledge, not a lack of knowledge. I gave a Bible to my daughter. That’s how you make atheists.”

Methodology

Between May and June researchers from the independent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life phoned more than 3,412 Americans. They were asked 32 questions about the Bible, Christianity and other world religions, famous religious figures and the constitutional principles governing religion in public life. The survey has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, while the margins of error for individual religious groups were higher.

Sources: NYT, AP, Reuters, Pew Research Center

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/us-survey-reveals-widespread-ignorance-about-religion/article1731446/

[I Think]

Not much of a surprise eh? I sometimes read stuff here in these threads, and it is obvious that the non believers have, for the most part a better handle on the facts of the Christian "religion", than its defenders. The number of folk who refuse to admit that virgin birth, 3 day resurection, equinox and solstice rituals are all borrowed from older religions, is staggering.

[Captain Awesome]

I'm not surprised. If general public can't even name a capital city of Italy correctly, why do you expect them to be extra stellar when it comes to religion?

[Glacier]

This story was making the rounds on FB a few days back.

You can do the quiz too. (I got 14/15).

After you finish the quiz, you can view theFULL REPORT or the EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.

ETA: Oops, I see that CoffeeFreak gives the answers. How about just show the link, CF, so that posters can do the quiz before viewing the answers?

[JLives]

“I have heard many times that atheists know more about religion than religious people,” said Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists, an advocacy group for nonbelievers. “Atheism is an effect of that knowledge, not a lack of knowledge. I gave a Bible to my daughter. That’s how you make atheists.”

This was certainly true for me. I attended church throughout my teens. After a few years I began asking questions that could not be answered to my satisfaction. I had decided to become baptised but shortly before the day arrived I changed my mind and left the church. I studied other religions for awhile and then became a practicing Wiccan. I was then drawn to Wiccanism because of the connection to nature and energy. It eventually led me to the conclusion that I did not need superstition to appreciate these things.

[steven lloyd]

“I gave a Bible to my daughter. That’s how you make atheists.”

Reading the Bible didn't make me an atheist, but it certainly confirmed for me it was not the word of God.

[coffeeFreak]

“I gave a Bible to my daughter. That’s how you make atheists.”

Reading the Bible didn't make me an atheist, but it certainly confirmed for me it was not the word of God.

I remember giving my daughter a bible (the summer camp she was going to go to requested they bring a bible). The first time she read it she asked me "am I a sinner mommy and does that mean I'm bad?" A great start to meeting a "loving God" heh? Needless to say that bible was no longer used for bedtime (or any other time) reading again and luckily the summer camp she attended never really used it.

[strwbrrydvl]

This story was making the rounds on FB a few days back.

You can do the quiz too. (I got 14/15).

I got 13/15 (#8 & #15 wrong).