I Broke Down and Made a New Post

[apple_pathways]

From this article in the New York Times: (commentary and bolding is mine)

Basic Religion Test Stumps Many Americans (Well of course it does!)

Americans are by all measures a deeply religious people, but they are also deeply ignorant about religion.

Researchers from the independent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life phoned more than 3,400 Americans and asked them 32 questions about the Bible, Christianity and other world religions, famous religious figures and the constitutional principles governing religion in public life.

On average, people who took the survey answered half the questions incorrectly, and many flubbed even questions about their own faith.

Those who scored the highest were atheists and agnostics, as well as two religious minorities: Jews and Mormons. The results were the same even after the researchers controlled for factors like age and racial differences.

Knew it! Here are some of the questions from the survey:

Among the topics covered in the survey were: Where was Jesus born? What is Ramadan? Whose writings inspired the Protestant Reformation? Which Biblical figure led the exodus from Egypt? What religion is the Dalai Lama? Joseph Smith? Mother Teresa? In most cases, the format was multiple choice.

Without the benefit of multiple choice (or Google) my answers: Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Ramadan is an Islamic holy month, Martin Luther inspired the Protestant Revolution, Moses led the exodus from Egypt, the Dalai Lama is a Buddhist, Joseph Smith was a Mormon, Mother Teresa was a Catholic.

How did I do? (Meaning, do feel free to correct me on any wrong answers.)

I'm telling you: atheists ROCK Bible trivia!

Comments

[middlegirl.livejournal.com]

I tried to take that test yesterday, but everybody linking to it broke the site.

I know I got those sample questions correct, but I've also got a Christian college education under my belt, and I've heard numerous sermon series on what other religions believe, in a "know thy enemy" sort of bent.

I suspect one reason why "Christians" could have scored so low is that America still considers itself a "Christian" nation from time to time, and many people self-identify as "Christians," even if they've never attended church or followed the tenets of any major branch of Christianity. Therefore, there is the possibility that many of the people who took the test are non-religious but ticked the Christian box when asked their religious persuasion.

Not trying to explain away the data or anything like that, just playing Devil's Advocate (despite its name, this is my favorite thing to do) and offering another possibility.

Now, if I could only find the quiz again...

[middlegirl.livejournal.com]

Found the quiz... I would have aced it but I misread a question and, thinking it was a glitch on the page, answered incorrectly. (It doesn't help that both were worded identically and was a yes/no question. My fault for not reading more closely.)

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

Ooh, could you post the link to the quiz? I'd like to see if I could pass the rest of it.

[housemaid79.livejournal.com]

...many people self-identify as "Christians," even if they've never attended church or followed the tenets of any major branch of Christianity.

I think you raise a really good point. I have had conversations with people who seem to view "Christian" almost as a default setting, rather than an active decision.

[middlegirl.livejournal.com]

I have never spoken with any of these people personally, but I've heard of people who think that being American automatically means being a Christian as well.

I'll even admit that, according to my mom (I was too young to remember), I thought I was born with Jesus "in my heart" because that's what they taught in Sunday School. It wasn't until I was in elementary school that I learned that it was a choice I had to make.

[apple-pathways.livejournal.com]

I wondered myself whether or not they included a "not religious/no relgion/spiritual but not religious" category on the survey. Because there's such a stigma against identifying as atheist or agnostic in most of the country, I agree that non-religious people are more likely to tick "christian" than "atheist or agnostic" if they're between categories. I do imagine they included more categories than those they mentioned in the article, since they did differentiate later between evangelical christians and other types.