Survey: Americans don’t know much about religion

[stevedeshazer]

http://dailycaller.com/2010/09/28/survey-americans-dont-know-much-about-religion/

<snip>

A new survey of Americans’ knowledge of religion found that atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons outperformed Protestants and Roman Catholics in answering questions about major religions, while many respondents could not correctly give the most basic tenets of their own faiths.

Forty-five percent of Roman Catholics who participated in the study didn’t know that, according to church teaching, the bread and wine used in Holy Communion is not just a symbol, but becomes the body and blood of Christ.

More than half of Protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the person who inspired the Protestant Reformation. And about four in 10 Jews did not know that Maimonides, one of the greatest rabbis and intellectuals in history, was Jewish.

The survey released Tuesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life aimed to test a broad range of religious knowledge, including understanding of the Bible, core teachings of different faiths and major figures in religious history. The U.S. is one of the most religious countries in the developed world, especially compared to largely secular Western Europe, but faith leaders and educators have long lamented that Americans still know relatively little about religion.

</snip>

So in today's Amerika, people are too stupid to understand their own religion?

Whoa.

:wow:

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Color me surprised

I wonder if many jews realize Spinoza was Jewish too.

[Hardrada]

6. He separated from his original belief system. (Was expelled

too, I believe). Religions ever abhor original thought.

[immoderate]

14. Kirk Douglas too!

--imm :)

[riderinthestorm]

69. Spinoza was excommunicated by the Jews. He was more of a proto-secularist imho. nt

[sakabatou]

2. No surprise. The Bible may be the best selling book ever

But it's also the least read book too.

[Ishoutandscream2]

80. LOL, and a big kick!!!

Excellent!

[Solly Mack]

3. Here's the quiz

http://features.pewforum.org/quiz/us-religious-knowledge/

You answered 15 out of 15 questions correctly
for a score of 100%.

[Morning Dew]

5. 15 out of 15 for me.

Though I guessed on the Pakistani question.

[Solly Mack]

9. They also have a link for the full questionnaire. At the bottom of the online version

Might be fun to do.

[eridani]

29. Same here. Guessed on the Great Awakening, though n/t

[Twillig]

7. 13/15

Blew a question about the Jewish Sabbath, and 'the great awakening.' (the what?)

I don't care, either. I'm better than 93 %. Take that Faith-heads.

[Solly Mack]

13. lol!

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. I missed the last one

but that is more like Colonial US history, and I could have cheated.

[Solly Mack]

16. My grandfather was a baptist minister, so....

[Ozymanithrax]

22. 15 out of 15... n/t

[RainDog]

25. also 15 out of 15

my score reflects the higher levels of knowledge about religion among those who don't practice one... oh, the irony.

[sakabatou]

26. 15/15

[bluethruandthru]

46. 15 out of 15! n/t

[eridani]

65. Looking at the three questions about religions other than Christianity or Judaism--

--the atheists and agnostics are WAY out in front. On the others, Mormons and Jews scored in the same neighborhood.

[AsahinaKimi]

70. I didn't do badly

You answered 11 out of 15 questions correctly
for a score of 73%. Buddhist here!

[AsahinaKimi]

71. dupe

[JerseygirlCT]

74. Me too

And to be honest, none of them were even difficult!

[Ishoutandscream2]

81. Man, 14 out of 15, and I probably would call myself agnostic

[Solly Mack]

83. I'm an atheist - raised by a mother whose father was a minister

She was a believer though she wasn't the 'you will go to church' type...so we didn't for most of my childhood. Good thing since my mother was asked to not bring me back to one church when I was rather young....I asked the wrong questions apparently... and the woman told my mother I was the "devil's spawn". So I turned to books with my questions.

In my home now you'll find holy books from various religions, assorted other mythologies... and other books on religion. (history, studies, maps, etc.)

[Rex]

4. You could shorten that down to Americans don't know much about

that would grok. :crazy:

[TreasonousBastard]

8. 14 out of 15 because the test thinks Nirvana is only a Buddhist concept. Truth is...

it was a Hindu concept before there was Buddhism.

[Chulanowa]

18. For some Hindus

Saying anything absolute about Hinduism is pretty much impossible.

Let's see how well your religion holds up after seven thousand years, though :)

[muriel_volestrangler]

45. That seems to be disputed

From Wikipedia, but it gives references:

Nirvana in Hinduism

In Hinduism, Moksha is the liberation from the cycle of birth and death and one's worldly conception of self. A person reaches the state of Nirvana only when Moksha is attained.<59> The Union with the supreme being Brahman and this experience of blissful ego-lessness is termed Nirvana. In Advaita Vedanta philosophy, however the concepts of Moksha and Nirvana are nearly analogous with certain views overlapping.<60>

The word Nirvana was first used in its technical sense in Buddhism, and cannot be found in any of the pre-Buddhist Upanishads. K. N. Upadhaya in his work "The Impact of Early Buddhism on Hindu Thought" says he believes the use of the term in the Bhagavad Gita to be a sign of early Buddhist influence upon Hindu thought.<61>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana

While the origins of Hinduism are considerably older than Buddhism, it did change considerably in the period after Buddha, and it's quite feasible that the Buddhist idea was crucial in getting the concept into Hinduism.

[TreasonousBastard]

56. I'm going back to when I was reading Will Durant on Hinduism...

among other things. That was a long time ago, but Nirvana seemed to be central to most variations of Hinduism. Perhaps it was simply called something else before Siddhartha made all that noise?

[JerseygirlCT]

75. I thought about that, too

Thought that was the case, though I knew where they wanted you to go...

[Hardrada]

10. 15 of 15 for me also. But of course I spent a year in a seminary.

[Justitia]

12. This atheist got 14 out of 15 - missed The Great Awakening question. -eom

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

17. Ditto, same question. The Great What? -nt

[JerseygirlCT]

76. His piece - Sinners in the hand of an angry God

was part of the English curriculum in HS.

Didn't like it - either as literature or as theology!

[Twillig]

19. obviously us atheists need to step up our guessing technique

when it comes to The Great Awakening™ question.

we suck!

[dkf]

33. What was the answer?

[Justitia]

53. Jonathan Edwards - read up on him, seems about as fun as herpes. -eom

[izquierdista]

48. I was asleep for that one too.

[petronius]

15. 14/15 - had to take a guess on the Great Awakening

and FTR, I would have got it right on transubstantiation even without the clue in the article - even a lapsed Catholic should know that...

[Caliman73]

20. Only if they ever paid attention.

You'd be surprised how many Catholics believe that Eucharist is symbolic.

[Twillig]

23. I'm glad they believe that, actually.

But that sort of religious moderate non-belief in what they are giving their allegiance to is troubling.

I'm down with Sam Harris when he says( not specific to catholicism): "By failing to live by the letter of the texts, while tolerating the irrationality of those who do, religious moderates betray faith and reason equally."

Either you believe it or don't. You disavow it or embrace it. True or false. Yes or no.

[Luminous Animal]

24. Totally creeped me out as a child. I tried my best to let Christ's body gently melt in my mouth...

but sometimes it would get stuck to the roof, and against my better nun induced judgment, I'd work it with my tongue to unstick it and then I'd be horrified that I was ripping the body of Christ into pieces. Horror saved for the confessional, of course, and wiped away by three Hail Marys.

Fuck, I hate religion.

This atheist scored 14/15. I too, like many others, missed the last one.

[MichellesBFF]

42. I was a Catholic, but not anymore

And I just learned recently about transubstantiation, man did that turn my stomach!

[14thColony]

54. And for most Protestant franchises

it is symbolic. I'm sure that difference alone counted for at least one million of the dead in the Thirty Years War.

[Ichingcarpenter]

35. Missed that one too but the only one I missed

I was thinking of the 4th Awakening

Link to the history of the Awakenings and there were four.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Awakening

I found the survey pretty easy and basic.

[ProfessorGAC]

52. I Quit Going To Church in 1970. . .

. . .and even i remember transsubstantiation. Sort of a word i would think every raised Catholic would remember.
GAC

[JoePhilly]

67. 14/15 ... I also missed the "Great Awakening" ... had it down to 2 ...

picked Billy Graham over Edwards in a toss-up.

[Ozymanithrax]

21. Where faith is required, knowledge is exiled.

I mean, really, people are required to accept god by faith alone, they don't need no stinkin' doctrine.

[dimbear]

27. I know all the tenets of my religion.

There aren't any. And I scored 100% on their religions. Nyah.

[Ozymanithrax]

51. I socred 15 out of 15...

Many of the even liberal chruches teach that only through faith is one saved. Belief is all that is necessary, and good works or knowledge are often seen as detrimental. If all a member needs is faith, why clutte up the brain, which is only a lump of material used ot give the head its shape, with knowledge.

And I took the test and scored 15 out of 15.

I am an agnostic Jew.

[Diclotican]

28. stevedeshazer

stevedeshazer

I got 15 of 15, and I am not even an american..... And this was really easy questning if you ask me, nothing difficult at all. So why pepole dosen't got this is just mindblowing

Diclotican

[eridani]

30. I think not being an American is actually an advantage here.

Many Americans are far more likely to believe in the Bible than to actually read it.

[Diclotican]

50. eridani

eridani

True, and therefore they can be used by anyone with the will to play them for fools.. It was one of the most important inventions of the 1400s, and then again, under the reformation in the 1500s, the importanse of reading the bible, in your own native language.. To know the facts in the bible.. Something might forgotten in many church over there?..

It was one of the "nr one issues" Martin Luther had with the Roman Chatolic Church, that the priest had the ability to deny the commons man/woman the right to read, and to understand the bible in their native language.. It was in many European country in fact illegal, if you was not ordined to have a copy of the bible, you could at least be fines hevely, or also, in some country be killed for the crime of having a bible.. It was ONLY the priest who had the power to translate the mystic of the Bible to ordinary peopole.. As long as most peopole was not able to write or read, it was not difficult, but when peopole had the ability to read, one of the wishes was to translate the bible to native languages. Something that was don, as back as the late 1200s, but every time, they was confiscated and the translaters killed.. After 1500s, reformations and it all, it was no way book, and the government suported the idea of man with the ability to read the book.,.. At least parts of the bible...

And I would say, it is still important to be able to READ the bible, and to understand what IS in the bible, rather than just say I belive in the bible, but have no clue what the bible are all about...

Diclotican

[14thColony]

31. This atheist got 15/15

Including the admittedly WTF? question on the Great Awakening.

[dkf]

32. Isn't that all rote memorization? What is the point of testing for that?

[Hissyspit]

38. No, it's not. nt

[14thColony]

55. It's instructive as to the level of even basic knowledge

Many of these questions (although certainly not all) speak to core beliefs of doctrines of the respective faiths, and as you say should absolutely at the very least be matters of rote memorization, if nothing else. I think the point is, if the faitful can't even get THOSE right, how much real comprehension can they have of any of the stuff that's even little bit intellectually challenging?

[dkf]

79. Is religion supposed to be intellectually challenging when it seems to mostly be about edicts

And obedience? What room is there for intellectual exercise?

[14thColony]

82. Quite a lot really, depending on which faith and which sect

Of course the faithful we see in the news and in our faces are primarily of the "no thought required or desired" viewpoint, but all three Abrahmaic religions have a long history of deep intellectualism with respect to divining the deeper meanings of the faith, it's just that at least for Christianity and Judaism that "golden era" was mostly centuries ago.

Early Christianity was dominated by the Gnostics, who felt that intellectualism and broadening of the mind was the path to God -- salvation through knowledge; Islam still has many Sufi sects who very much feel the same way the Gnostics did, and of course Judaism has a very long history of deep intellectual thought and human philosophy.

But all three religions are pretty old now, and to a great extent things have ossified quite a bit into dogma, which requires less thought and more obedience. I'd hazard to guess though that quite a bit of good old free thought exists among the Sufis, and I would imagine there are at least some Christian sects that might be more akin to the extinct Gnostics. They're just not the ones with bumper stickers that say "God said it, I believe it, that settles it."

[Scuba]

34. 14/15 for this atheist.

[atreides1]

36. 13 out of 15

Better then 93%.

[Hissyspit]

37. 15/15 for me. Also, an atheist.

[Hissyspit]

39. “Many Americans think the constitutional restrictions on religion in public schools are tighter than

they really are,”

[Douglas Carpenter]

40. a great survey to take

http://features.pewforum.org/quiz/us-religious-knowledge/intro.php

I made 14 out of 15 - better than 1% of the U.S. population..

I missed the one regarding Nirvana because I was under the impression that it was originally a Hindu concept prior to becoming a Buddhist concept

[Danmel]

41. 14/15

But only because I misread the Joseph Smith question- I thought it said his original religion! Must drink coffee BEFORE doing quizzes!

I knew Jonathan Edwards because I read his "sermon" "Sinners in the hand of an angry God" in an interdisciplinary program in college. Not a sunshine & butterflies kind of guy.

[seabeyond]

43. i am always telling my catholic hubby about his religion. did just the other day. i laugh....

my brother using religion all the time for his political views. he doesnt know shit so now he says.... the way i see it with god...

well hell, just make something up, doesnt work

[alphafemale]

44. kick

[old mark]

47. I'm an agnostic with a religious school background (Surprise!)..14 of 15...

My Jewish wife got all 15 correct.

I also read an article this morning stating that athiests and agnostics in general know more about religion than most religious believers (No Surprise!)

The test also reminded me that the Great Awakening is probably responsible for the know-nothing fundamentalists we all know so well today....thanks a lot.


mark

[Fumesucker]

49. With religion the more you know about it the less sense it makes..

Confirmation classes did it for me, the more I learned of the religion I was raised in the more I found myself questioning the lack of logical rigor, I was twelve or so and just couldn't believe the answers that supposed adults were telling me.

[scheming daemons]

57. The most interesting part of this study is that Atheists/Agnostics are the most religiously literate

Those who know the most about religion tend to reject it.


Something this atheist has intuitively known all along.

[SoCalDem]

60. We always called them "The Drunk Monk Chronicles"

Water was dangerous to drink for most of recorded history, but wine...well MANY monasteries were also wineries (gotta grow that sacramental wine)...and Monks often were the scribes who copied/translated the "good book"..

hilarity ensued:(

[Manifestor_of_Light]

58. Christians think Buddha is worshiped as a God.

The latest rectum that told me I was going to hell "if you keep worshipping Buddha and meditating", I had to correct him.
I said, "You do not know what you are talking about. Buddha is NOT worshipped as a God. He was an awakened man. He is revered".

Recto-Jeezer's response, "Ohhhh.....".

:banghead: :grr:

Proud atheist and former Presbyterian here.

[SoCalDem]

59. TV dogma-pushers tell most of the "unlearned" all they need to know. n/t

[fifthoffive]

61. Another 15/15 atheist

I think there is a statistical correlation between scores on this test and educational level, as well as between educational level and atheism.

Faith does not require knowledge, in fact knowledge is often anathema to faith.

[WillyT]

62. K & R !!!

:kick:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

63. "Buddha is the same as Voodoo"

My idiot neighbor said this when she saw my altar with a Kwan Yin and a Medicine Buddha.
She held up her forearms, crossed, like she was keeping evil away.

I gave her a five minute lecture about Buddhism as an ancient and dignified religion, but I was wasting my breath.

I stopped talking to her. I decided I couldn't fight stupidity that was that profound.
She knew she said something wrong, but couldn't figure out what it was.

Actually voodoo has more in common with Christianity -- like blood sacrifice.

:banghead:

Can't believe these fundamentalist idiots. :banghead: :wtf:

[AsahinaKimi]

We are terrible Heathens!!

I don't understand how people who are clueless about certain religions will not listen to people who try to explain what their religion is all about. I guess they are afraid that if they open their minds too much, their devils will jump right into the open space!

[AsahinaKimi]

73. dupe

what is with these double postings? crap!

[ceile]

64. 14 of 15

No idea what the Great Awakening was...

[eridani]

66. Only one out of 10 people got that one right--across the board n/t

[riderinthestorm]

68. I've been excoriated on this board for saying believers don't know the tenets of their religions

It's something this atheist has known personally (growing up as fundie), and socially (living in Wheaton, IL for a couple of decades - land of the fundies), as well as places like DU.

It's fascinating to get some hard data to back this up. And depressing to realize how many people are deluded by their "leaders" into believing bullshit without ever doing their own homework or research.

Why do people allow themselves to be sheep? (heh, in the case of evangelicals that's a literal thought....) Life is so much more rich and interesting when one's curiosity is allowed full rein. I know the obvious answer - that it's more profitable for dictators/religious charlatans/spiritual "leaders" to "guide" their flock, discouraging "seeking" instead of having their flock seek their own answers but it's damn depressing how many people simply follow without ever truly exploring their faith and belief systems.

And I'd answer the OP that yes, in America today there are many, many people who are too stupid to understand their own religion but I would broaden that to say that there are people all over the WORLD who don't understand their own religions. It's insanity of the highest order but those people are being purposefully, sometimes maliciously led astray for despicable reasons - $$, power, terrorism, gender control, etc.

[elleng]

72. Good article about it:

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/0928/In-US-atheists-know-religion-better-than-believers.-Is-that-bad

[Starry Messenger]

77. 15/15

Atheist.

[lightningandsnow]

78. 14/15 - I'm a reform/reconstructionist Jew.

This is reassuring, seeing as I'm doing a double major in equity studies and religion.