the religious knowledge quiz

[shugah]

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

this is only 15 of the 32 questions. the full survey won't load. i could have answered most of these without the multiple choice.

[DURHAM D]

1. Thanks for posting. Agnostic and answered all 15 correctly.

boy there are some dumb Christians in this country...

[shugah]

5. aren't you all that AND a bag of chips! n/t

[Luciferous]

2. I got 13/15 which I guess isn't bad considering I am not

religious at all :)

[shugah]

6. i missed the "first great awakening" question

i must have slept thru it...

looking at the details of the responses, that question seems to have received the least correct responses. i'm going to hazard a guess (tho there is no information on what people DID answer, even if incorrect) that many chose billy graham, based simply on name recognition (not me - i knew that one was incorrect, so had a 50/50 chance of getting it wrong!)

[malletgirl02]

13. Great Awakening

Just so you know the answer is Johnathan Edwards. What is weird I got that right, but the Jewish Sabbath day wrong. I guess, I'm just wired weird.

[alphafemale]

15. That's the only one I missed

And I also knew Billy Graham was wrong

[shugah]

20. that's the only one i missed too n/t

[dalaigh lllama]

17. That's the only one I guessed at

Like you, I knew it wasn't Graham, so guessed one of the other two and won the coin toss. I got 15/15 right.

[unapatriciated]

52. I think you are correct.

I missed three and that was one of them.

[socialist_n_TN]

57. That was the one I missed too........

I also knew it wasn't Billy Graham, so it retry was easy.

[liberalhistorian]

67. Hell, a lot of people don't even know what

the "first great awakening" was. I never learned it in high school or college, came upon it in my own reading. Not all of us Christians are dumb hicks, you know. I would have thought the "nirvana" question would have been the one least correct. A favorite book of mine from awhile ago was the Seven Great Religions of the World, so I remembered that it was Buddhism, although I can understand why some people might have thought it was Hinduism.

[prairierose]

3. I'm a pagan and got 15 correct.....n/t

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

27. Also Pagan but got 14/15

That great Awakening one got me.


edit: stupid me got enlightenment and Awakening mixed up

[customerserviceguy]

4. 15 out of 15

But then, I'm atheist, and we have been said to have a natural advantage at this.

[shugah]

7. there is something to be said for understanding what you don't believe

atheists aren't born any more than christians/buddhists/hindis/etc are. it's all an exercise in critical thinking - something which cannot be done without gathering and evaluating information.

[customerserviceguy]

10. I was kidding, a bit

One does not arrive at atheism without an examination of what's out there. In my experience, those raised without a religious background are often the most susceptible to religious proselytizing. You have to make sure your kids know the BS that others will try to sell them, if you want them to have a life free of religious oppression.

[Bill McBlueState]

40. atheists *are* born, though

My daughter didn't believe in any gods when she was born.

[shugah]

63. good point n/t

[valerief]

8. I only got 13 out of 15. I'm a bad atheist.

I didn't get the awakening one and I got the Sabbath question wrong (duh!!!!).

[shugah]

12. aw, you're awesome!

better score than most!

[malletgirl02]

16. Sabbath question

The Sabbath question was the only one I got wrong, considering I got the great awakening one right is kind of odd. Edited.

[shirlden]

9. 14 out of 15 right

Non religious, but spiritual.

[Canuckistanian]

11. 15/15 for this rabid, godless atheist

In fact, the quiz was ridiculously easy.

[X_Digger]

14. 15/15, and I'm agnostic

[Aristus]

18. 14 out of 15. Got the Jewish Sabbath wrong. I answered 'Saturday'.

:dunce:

[malletgirl02]

21. You aren't the only one

I also got 14/15 and the only one I got wrong was the Jewish Sabbath. I also answered Saturday. Kind of hard to believe we answered the Great awakening question right, which got the lowest percentage of correct answers across the board, only to get the Jewish Sabbath day wrong.

[trotsky]

33. The Sabbath is indeed Saturday.

However it technically starts at sundown on Friday, thus the wording of the question: "When does the Jewish Sabbath begin?"

[laconicsax]

54. Technically, sundown on Friday is when Saturday starts. n/t

[trotsky]

61. That's just a Jewish conspiracy and YOU WOULD KNOW!

:P

[shugah]

62. yeah, that was one where the multiple choice option worked out

the "begin" gave away the answer.

[Danmel]

70. It comes from Genesis

There was evening, there was morning, the first day . That is why thevsabbath begins at sundown on Friday night. All days begin at
sundown.
The Hebrew transliteration is "v yehee erev
v yehee boker, yom ha rishon"

[WolverineDG]

19. I scored better than atheists on this quiz

How is that? As someone who believes in God, I'm supposed to be dumber than dirt.

dg

[shugah]

23. i'm glad you scored well :-)

i don't know anything about that chip on your shoulder, but the survey results are interesting, don't you think?

[WolverineDG]

24. You must be new around here

because it's widely known & apparently accepted behavior for atheists to repeatedly call those who believe in a Higher Power "idiots" & "morons."

dg

[Electric Monk]

25. With most men, unbelief in one thing springs from blind belief in another.

- Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 - 1799)


Try joining us in the 21st century and losing the persecution complex.

[valerief]

31. Take that baseball bat out of your hand and stop beating yourself up.

No one else here is beating you up.

[trotsky]

32. Accepted, huh?

You shouldn't say things that aren't true.

Anyone calling believers "idiots" or "morons" will have their posts deleted. Check the DU rules and alert if you think a post crosses the line.

[socialist_n_TN]

58. Your user name is the same as my favorite Commie........

:)

[shugah]

65. not new at all, my dear

and all the victims on DU are not victims on DU at all - i have been around here long enough to recognize that. give it a few years - you'll see :-)

[notesdev]

39. Did you see the statistical data at the end?

There IS a group of believers that scores better than atheists/agnostics on the quiz.

[vixengrl]

22. 15/15. And yeah, I'm an atheist.

It's weird but religion is just a thing I am fascinated by, so I recollect the odd thing or two. I did look into a lot of different spiritual paths before realizing that spirituality wasn't my way, though. Maybe atheists do well on these things because so many of us came to "no faith" the long way 'round.

[Jim Lane]

26. Question 11 is the one that horrifies me

Apparently, about three-fourths of Americans think that a public school teacher is not permitted to read from the Bible as an example of literature.

No wonder the "War on Christmas" fraud has so much traction. People are astoundingly ignorant -- if so many of them believe that those evil liberal elites in Washington have banned the reading of the Bible in public school, why wouldn't they also swallow the "War on Christmas" and other right-wing lies?

When I was in school, we not only had some Bible readings, we read "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards. That's why I got the "First Great Awakening" question right. I must admit I'd never heard of Charles Finney, one of the other choices. According to , he was involved in the Second Great Awakening.

I upheld the honor of the agnostics by getting all 15 right.

[MisterP]

28. 14/15

I answer to Popeatine

[Malikshah]

29. Missed the last one about the First Great Awakening. Beyond that, the questions were

basic

[TexasProgresive]

30. 13 out of 15

Missed the Great Awakening one but 14 has 2 correct answers:
14. Which of these religions aims at nirvana, the state of being free from suffering?

* Islam
* Buddhism
* Hinduism
I chose Hindu as it is the elder of the 2. Pew chose Buddhism. This question should have left one of those out and substituted Zoroastrianism, Baha'i or Sufism. I would grade the Pew test at 93.75%. Also it seems many miss the question on the Jewish Sabbath because they don't read it correctly missing that when does it begin. One has to consider that the ancient Jews considered the start of the day to be at night fall. So Friday night is actually Saturday. Intentional or not it is a trick question.

[dgibby]

47. That's the one I missed.

I answered Hindu, also.

[shugah]

69. i agree

i answered the question correctly, understanding what the question thought it was asking. "enlightenment" or "awakening" is the goal of the eight-fold path, not "nirvana". but "nirvana" has become associated with "enlightenment" so, there you have it! :-)

[blondeatlast]

34. This "unbound" Xtian received 15/15. nt

[guardian]

35. 15/15

and I'm an atheist.

[BoneDaddy]

36. Great Awakening it is

only one I missed as well.

[Greyhound]

37. Another 15 for an agnostic atheist. n/t

[MurrayDelph]

38. 15/15. Not bad

for a secular Jew.

[distantearlywarning]

41. 14/15, missed the last one.

Don't know anything about the "Great Awakening".

[gratuitous]

42. Good old Anabaptists - 15/15

Too bad Pew Research doesn't recognize this small division of Christianity, so I don't know how I did compared to others in my sect.

[JNelson6563]

43. I got 14 of 15 correct

And knowing alot about religion is why I am an atheist.

Julie

[BolivarianHero]

44. Perfect

Atheist and went to a fairly liberal Catholic school whose religious department was headed by a supporter of Liberation Theology. There was a math teacher who hates Francophones, which is odd for a Catholic school in Eastern Ontario.

[Fuzz]

45. 15 out of 15 - Atheist here, but my father was an ordained minister.

;)

[4_TN_TITANS]

46. Atheist - scored better than 93% of participants

To be fair though, I was a preacher in my younger more impressionable days. :P

[bemildred]

48. Apatheticist -- 93%. nt

[mariema]

71. I like that: Apatheticist

It is a very descriptive appellation. If you don't mind, I just might start using it.

Oh yeah, I got 15/15 and I haven't thought about religion in at least 20 years.

[pgodbold]

49. 14 out of 15 I didn't know the answer for last question. nt

[JerseygirlCT]

50. 15/15 Episcopalian

So not all religious people are ignorant!

[sweetloukillbot]

59. 15/15 Episcopalian as well

I like tothink it's because I've actually studied religions and done a lot of thought and soul-searching to arrive at the Episcopal Church.

[JerseygirlCT]

60. We seem to attract a fair number of people like that

I like to think it's the emphasis on discernment. When people are actually encouraged to think for themselves, funny thing - they do!

:toast:

[PBS Poll-435]

51. You answered 14 out of 15 questions correctly

Meh.

[JoeyT]

53. 15/15 correct

And I'm an atheist. Almost all of these should be easy to hit even without the multiple choice.
It's kind of baffling that 60% of the people responding to it don't even know what transubstantiation is.

Edited to add: And completely ridiculous that only 11% got the last one right. Good grief, there are only three options. People are doing worse than flipping a coin for both of these.

[Twinguard]

55. 15/15. I win.

The last one was a guess. I had it narrowed down to two, and I guessed correctly. The rest I knew from having taken religious ed. classes and paying attention in history classes.

Not bad for an atheist. :)

[socialist_n_TN]

56. Well I started out with 14/15 correct answers.........

All but one of which I knew without the benefit of the multiple choice. The one I didn't know, I went back and picked again and got it right. I knew it was one of two and NOT the third, so my mulligan was pretty easy :).

I'm not affiliated with any organized religion, but I'm NOT an atheist. I try to live my life Zen, but like the Buddha, what happens after I die doesn't concern me much.

The questions were actually fairly easy as far as I was concerned. As another poster said, there seems to be a LOT of dumbass Christians around.

[supernova]

64. 15/15 for this lapsed Presbyterian

:-)

[liberalhistorian]

66. I'm a Christian and I got a perfect score.

See, not all of us are delusional rubes, lol! I think a large part of the problem is that these things aren't taught in primary and secondary school and aren't required in college, so it's no surprise that too many people don't know it.

[EFerrari]

68. 14 because I had no idea what the First Great Awakening was.

[Fearless]

72. 14/15 Atheist.