Survey: Americans don't know much about religion

**OfficerFarva** · 09-28-2010, 07:23 PM

But we already knew religious people are idiots.

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.

[Related: Texas resolution on Islam]

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.

[Related: Marriages in '09 at record low]

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.

Survey: Americans don't know much about religion - Yahoo! News

U.S. Religious Knowledge Quiz

**TheGreatSatan** · 09-28-2010, 07:48 PM

Couldn't you just put this in the already existing religion thread? Enough already...

**OfficerFarva** · 09-28-2010, 07:51 PM

Probably but I haven't read it and I'm sure there's a million other religious threads on this board anyways. And no it'll never be enough!

**maniclion** · 09-28-2010, 08:40 PM

psh! Try discussing Zoroastrianisms influence on Judeo-Christian-Islamic faiths with a devout baptist, a guy who just says he's a christian and a half-assed catholic while holed up on a ship for 2 weeks and you'll form a pretty solid picture of how one tracked many peoples minds are....monotheism takes on a whole new meaning...Think in Dolby Surround people....

**maniclion** · 09-28-2010, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by TheGreatSatan

Couldn't you just put this in the already existing religion thread? Enough already...

Why is it enough already? Obviously people don't get enough because they never discuss it and learn to begin with, how can people claim a faith without even knowing what other options are on the table?

**TheGreatSatan** · 09-28-2010, 08:48 PM

There's just too many threads on the same thing. Merge 'em

**KelJu** · 09-29-2010, 07:48 AM

Originally Posted by TheGreatSatan

There's just too many threads on the same thing. Merge 'em

Lol, so can we merge all of the sandy vagina boohoo mean Obama gonna take my money political threads you have started recently?

**vortrit** · 09-29-2010, 08:05 AM

I'm beginning to think this is a religious forum. I really don't understand what everyone's obsession with it has lately.

**DaMayor** · 09-29-2010, 08:36 AM

Originally Posted by vortrit

I'm beginning to think this is a religious forum. I really don't understand what everyone's obsession with it has lately.

This has always been an issue for some reason.....that reason being boredom, apparently. I don't recall any of these threads ending in anything other than the usual bashing of Christianity, or any other belief system for that matter......

**vortrit** · 09-29-2010, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by DaMayor

This has always been an issue for some reason.....that reason being boredom, apparently. I don't recall any of these threads ending in anything other than the usual bashing of Christianity, or any other belief system for that matter......

Lame. There's, at least, three threads dealing with religion on the first page. I'm get bored a lot too but for Pete's sake!

**DaMayor** · 09-29-2010, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by vortrit

Lame. There's, at least, three threads dealing with religion on the first page. I'm get bored a lot too but for Pete's sake!

Agreed. Same applies for abortion, gay rights, politics.....never a happy ending around here. I think this is why many of the old IM members no longer frequent the site.......We used to have a lot of fun before the bash-fests began.

**vortrit** · 09-29-2010, 09:25 AM

Originally Posted by DaMayor

Agreed. Same applies for abortion, gay rights, politics.....never a happy ending around here. I think this is why many of the old IM members no longer frequent the site.......We used to have a lot of fun before the bash-fests began.

Yeah, I've noticed a good chunk of the forum members who frequented here when I first joined are never on here anymore, on here very little, or only post in one or two sections. I don't see anything wrong with discussing the subject or having an opinion, but three threads? It's just ridiculous, in my opinion.

**maniclion** · 09-29-2010, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by DaMayor

Agreed. Same applies for abortion, gay rights, politics.....never a happy ending around here. I think this is why many of the old IM members no longer frequent the site.......We used to have a lot of fun before the bash-fests began.

Oh please I can find touchy subject threads all the way back to when these forums started....I love them because healthy debate is good for people, for some it's the only time they break out of their comfortable little shell of ignorance and do some research. I know I have changed my opinion on quite a few things or at the very least learned better defenses for my own beliefs from debates I've been in....but I'm like Jack London and just want to know and experience everything life has to offer....

**proxy10** · 11-05-2010, 12:57 AM

I read more on conservative news outlets.

**soxmuscle** · 11-05-2010, 02:51 PM

This is a good thing. Religion needs to be wiped off this planet for any semblance of order to be restored worldwide.

**maniclion** · 11-05-2010, 03:21 PM

On NPR they were discussing Faith and Science when some lady called asking something like; Will there be a time when faith will help to explain our reality the way science does? She sounded sincere so I don't think it was a joke she really wanted to know.....

And then the guy on the radio quotes Philip K. Dick " "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." I was laughing my ass off...

**min0 lee** · 11-05-2010, 04:45 PM

I know enough to stay away from it.

**maniclion** · 11-05-2010, 04:52 PM

Originally Posted by min0 lee

I know enough to stay away from it.

Word, I only dabble in reality out of professional courtesy while at work, all other times I steer clear of it....

Thread: Survey: Americans don't know much about religion

Thread Tools

Display

Survey: Americans don't know much about religion

Similar Threads

Religion

Ban Religion?????

Question about religion?

New religion thread

Religion

Posting Permissions