Survey: Americans don't know much about religion

[bennychico11]

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.

 

Respondents to the survey were asked 32 questions with a range of difficulty, including whether they could name the Islamic holy book and the first book of the Bible, or say what century the Mormon religion was founded. On average, participants in the survey answered correctly overall for half of the survey questions.

 

Atheists and agnostics scored highest, with an average of 21 correct answers, while Jews and Mormons followed with about 20 accurate responses. Protestants overall averaged 16 correct answers, while Catholics followed with a score of about 15.

 

Not surprisingly, those who said they attended worship at least once a week and considered religion important in their lives often performed better on the overall survey. However, level of education was the best predictor of religious knowledge. The top-performing groups on the survey still came out ahead even when controlling for how much schooling they had completed.

 

On questions about Christianity, Mormons scored the highest, with an average of about eight correct answers out of 12, followed by white evangelicals, with an average of just over seven correct answers. Jews, along with atheists and agnostics, knew the most about other faiths, such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism. Less than half of Americans know that the Dalai Lama is Buddhist, and less than four in 10 know that Vishnu and Shiva are part of Hinduism.

 

The study also found that many Americans don't understand constitutional restrictions on religion in public schools. While a majority know that public school teachers cannot lead classes in prayer, less than a quarter know that the U.S. Supreme Court has clearly stated that teachers can read from the Bible as an example of literature.

 

"Many Americans think the constitutional restrictions on religion in public schools are tighter than they really are," Pew researchers wrote.

 

The survey of 3,412 people, conducted between May and June of this year, had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, while the margins of error for individual religious groups was higher.

 

Pew online quiz about religion

[carlfense]

I heard about this on Todd n' Tyler this morning. Heh.

[Husker_x]

Not surprising, but running through a list of things most Americans don't know anything about, religion is just another drop in an ocean of stupidity. Bill Maher had a rant awhile back about how most Americans didn't know there were two senators per state, much less able to name them. A large portion can't name a single branch of government. Science standards are so abysmal that 44% of us think that the world is ten thousand years old and that man walked with dinosaurs.

 

I took the attached quiz. Got one wrong, but actually I was right. They have Buddhism listed as the religion which deals in Nirvana. Actually it's Hinduism, though I suppose there could be some crossover since Nirvana is an enlightened state. It would surprise me at all if most people couldn't get half of them right. What is surprising is how many people attend worship services declaring that God is the most important potential aspect of their lives yet don't know diddly squat about their book or the history of their religion. I guess they have better things to do.

[bennychico11]

What is surprising is how many people attend worship services declaring that God is the most important potential aspect of their lives yet don't know diddly squat about their book or the history of their religion. I guess they have better things to do.

 

Just following faith blindly because it's how they were raised and it's what they are told is the "truth".

Same with people and politics.

 

I too didn't find the results in the article that surprising.

I'm not very political so I probably fall into that category of not knowing enough about the politicians that represent us. However, religion and faith is something I've always been interested in (and raised with) even though today I choose not to believe. I do find it interesting that atheists/agnostics are usually the ones who can quote scripture the best and know the history behind many religions. I've known Catholics who don't know why Jewish people aren't considered Christians....and Christians who didn't know what a Koran was before the whole "burning of the Koran" controversy recently. Atheists seem more interested in learning about why they have a lack of faith than theists learning why they belong to that certain faith/religion.

[carlfense]

Not surprising, but running through a list of things most Americans don't know anything about, religion is just another drop in an ocean of stupidity. Bill Maher had a rant awhile back about how most Americans didn't know there were two senators per state, much less able alone name them. A large portion can't name a single branch of government. Science standards are so abysmal that 44% of us think that the world is ten thousand years old and that man walked with dinosaurs.

 

I took the attached quiz. Got one wrong, but I actually I was right. They have Buddhism listed as the religion which deals in Nirvana. Actually it's Hinduism, though I suppose there could be some crossover since Nirvana is an enlightened state. It would surprise me at all if most people couldn't get half of them right. What is surprising is how many people attend worship services declaring that God is the most important potential aspect of their lives yet don't know diddly squat about their book or the history of their religion. I guess they have better things to do.

I missed 2 . . . but I don't really trust my score because I read the article first. There were several answers mentioned in the article.

 

But yes. The pervasiveness of stupidity is startling.

[Landlord]

The U.S. is one of the most religious countries in the developed world

 

 

 

This is where they get it wrong. This country is hardly religious, only ignorant. Something like ~75% of the nation claims Christianity, ie claims a religion, but < 10% of those people actually...at the risk of sounding judgmental or being too high up on my horse, live it out, or understand it properly.

[Husker_x]

The U.S. is one of the most religious countries in the developed world

 

 

 

This is where they get it wrong. This country is hardly religious, only ignorant. Something like ~75% of the nation claims Christianity, ie claims a religion, but < 10% of those people actually...at the risk of sounding judgmental or being too high up on my horse, live it out, or understand it properly.

 

While I agree with that statement in general, there's still a problem. What is understanding Christianity properly? About a third of the world, or two billion people, are Christian. You can split that number about evenly in two along Catholic and Protestant lines. Still further, there are around 38,000 sects and denominations. In my own opinion, you can take any church of any denomination and you'd be more likely to find two identical snowflakes than find two harmonious sets of Christian beliefs between two individuals.

[Manhattan]

I'm going to use an LvM quote here:

 

"The class of those who have the ability to think their own thoughts is separated by an unbridgeable gulf from the class of those who cannot."

 

It's a sad truth of all thought (or lack thereof) in this world. It is just most easily identifiable in religious people. I used to not really care, but then I considered that if you couldn't use reason to come to some extraordinarily simple conclusions about religion, then I don't really know why I should take any other point of view you may have seriously.

[Army Husker]

Not surprising, but running through a list of things most Americans don't know anything about, religion is just another drop in an ocean of stupidity. Bill Maher had a rant awhile back about how most Americans didn't know there were two senators per state, much less able to name them. A large portion can't name a single branch of government. Science standards are so abysmal that 44% of us think that the world is ten thousand years old and that man walked with dinosaurs.

 

I agree with much of what you said, but think a better indicator of America's scientific stupidity would be something along the lines that many can't state Newton's 2,000 year old laws of motion or know that spiders aren't actually insects. Seems you creep up on creationism and religion when talking about the age of man and the world.

[Landlord]

The U.S. is one of the most religious countries in the developed world

 

 

 

This is where they get it wrong. This country is hardly religious, only ignorant. Something like ~75% of the nation claims Christianity, ie claims a religion, but < 10% of those people actually...at the risk of sounding judgmental or being too high up on my horse, live it out, or understand it properly.

 

While I agree with that statement in general, there's still a problem. What is understanding Christianity properly? About a third of the world, or two billion people, are Christian. You can split that number about evenly in two along Catholic and Protestant lines. Still further, there are around 38,000 sects and denominations. In my own opinion, you can take any church of any denomination and you'd be more likely to find two identical snowflakes than find two harmonious sets of Christian beliefs between two individuals.

 

 

For the sake of distinguishing, I suppose the best definition I could come up with would be those who wrap their lives around their faith (regardless of differentiation from those around them), and let it impact everything they do.

[Husker_x]

I agree with much of what you said, but think a better indicator of America's scientific stupidity would be something along the lines that many can't state Newton's 2,000 year old laws of motion or know that spiders aren't actually insects. Seems you creep up on creationism and religion when talking about the age of man and the world.

 

The prevalence of young earth creationism is a very American problem. Most Christians worldwide are not YECs. In America a huge portion are. Personally I can't think of anything else besides lax science education that explains this. You're right to point out other shortcomings in other fields, but as far as the unifying theory of biology (which is taught in most schools) is concerned, when you hear herds of people refer to Big Bang cosmology or Abiogenesis as 'Darwinism', it's more than just religious nonsense––it's bad education, whether you accept science or not.

 

For the sake of distinguishing, I suppose the best definition I could come up with would be those who wrap their lives around their faith (regardless of differentiation from those around them), and let it impact everything they do.

 

Perfectly fine definition––not universally accepted, leaving us with the same problem as before.

[Army Husker]

I agree with much of what you said, but think a better indicator of America's scientific stupidity would be something along the lines that many can't state Newton's 2,000 year old laws of motion or know that spiders aren't actually insects. Seems you creep up on creationism and religion when talking about the age of man and the world.

 

The prevalence of young earth creationism is a very American problem. Most Christians worldwide are not YECs. In America a huge portion are. Personally I can't think of anything else besides lax science education that explains this. You're right to point out other shortcomings in other fields, but as far as the unifying theory of biology (which is taught in most schools) is concerned, when you hear herds of people refer to Big Bang cosmology or Abiogenesis as 'Darwinism', it's more than just religious nonsense––it's bad education, whether you accept science or not.

 

Just for curiosity sake, what are you basing your comment that most Christians aren't young earth creationists based on? And how is creationism a majority-American philosophy?

[Husker_x]

I agree with much of what you said, but think a better indicator of America's scientific stupidity would be something along the lines that many can't state Newton's 2,000 year old laws of motion or know that spiders aren't actually insects. Seems you creep up on creationism and religion when talking about the age of man and the world.

 

The prevalence of young earth creationism is a very American problem. Most Christians worldwide are not YECs. In America a huge portion are. Personally I can't think of anything else besides lax science education that explains this. You're right to point out other shortcomings in other fields, but as far as the unifying theory of biology (which is taught in most schools) is concerned, when you hear herds of people refer to Big Bang cosmology or Abiogenesis as 'Darwinism', it's more than just religious nonsense––it's bad education, whether you accept science or not.

 

Just for curiosity sake, what are you basing your comment that most Christians aren't young earth creationists based on? And how is creationism a majority-American philosophy?

 

The stat that I pulled from Richard Dawkins' latest scientific book had 44% of Americans as young earth creationists (which is absurdly high compared to Europe). General browsing and a simple understanding of various creationism movements fills in the rest of the gaps. The Roman Catholic Church, for example––or at least the last three popes––has accepted evolution and advised adherents to not see it as a threat to a belief in God. On top of that, there are a variety of kinds of creationism which don't include a young earth and therefore agree with science to a lesser or greater extent: old earth creationism, day-age creationism, theistic evolution creationism (which would include one of the others), and, more recently, intelligent design creationism.

 

Here is an additional Gallup Poll backing up the stats.

[Army Husker]

I agree with much of what you said, but think a better indicator of America's scientific stupidity would be something along the lines that many can't state Newton's 2,000 year old laws of motion or know that spiders aren't actually insects. Seems you creep up on creationism and religion when talking about the age of man and the world.

 

The prevalence of young earth creationism is a very American problem. Most Christians worldwide are not YECs. In America a huge portion are. Personally I can't think of anything else besides lax science education that explains this. You're right to point out other shortcomings in other fields, but as far as the unifying theory of biology (which is taught in most schools) is concerned, when you hear herds of people refer to Big Bang cosmology or Abiogenesis as 'Darwinism', it's more than just religious nonsense––it's bad education, whether you accept science or not.

 

Just for curiosity sake, what are you basing your comment that most Christians aren't young earth creationists based on? And how is creationism a majority-American philosophy?

 

The stat that I pulled from Richard Dawkins' latest scientific book had 44% of Americans as young earth creationists (which is absurdly high compared to Europe). General browsing and a simple understanding of various creationism movements fills in the rest of the gaps. The Roman Catholic Church, for example––or at least the last three popes––has accepted evolution and advised adherents to not see it as a threat to a belief in God. On top of that, there are a variety of kinds of creationism which don't include a young earth and therefore agree with science to a lesser or greater extent: old earth creationism, day-age creationism, theistic evolution creationism (which would include one of the others), and, more recently, intelligent design creationism.

 

Here is an additional Gallup Poll backing up the stats.

Seems Americans haven't been paying attention to the last 3 popes, due to the gallup poll showing the belief of YeC remaining essentially the same since 1982. Interesting poll too: many points could be brought from that alone. As for the OP, then your first reply, I agree that we (as a nation) fall short on many educational subjects. Why not add religion to the pot. Maybe as soon as the arguments for the "PC-ness" of textbooks gets figured out, someone can add context to what gets taught in school.

[bennychico11]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWu9Ro8ghcE