U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey - unbelievers, Jews, and Mormons score highest

[John Dibble]

http://www.pewforum.org/Other-Beliefs-and-Practices/U-S-Religious-Knowledge-Survey.aspx

U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey
 POLL September 28, 2010 

Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.

On average, Americans correctly answer 16 of the 32 religious knowledge questions on the survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. Atheists and agnostics average 20.9 correct answers. Jews and Mormons do about as well, averaging 20.5 and 20.3 correct answers, respectively. Protestants as a whole average 16 correct answers; Catholics as a whole, 14.7. Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons perform better than other groups on the survey even after controlling for differing levels of education.




More info in link above.

[minionofmidas]

Ranking's about as unsurprising as it could be.

[fezzyfestoon]

Ranking's about as unsurprising as it could be.

Yep, makes sense.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.

outside of Christianity and old testament Judaism, I know about as little as I can of other religions....so I would probably score very low on this test

[fezzyfestoon]

on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.

outside of Christianity and old testament Judaism, I know about as little as I can of other religions....so I would probably score very low on this test

That's a good way to approach life, actively learn as little as possible about things that might prove you wrong.  Good luck with that, Stalin.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

outside of Christianity and old testament Judaism, I know about as little as I can of other religions....so I would probably score very low on this test

That's a good way to approach life, actively learn as little as possible about things that might prove you wrong.  Good luck with that, Stalin.

can you just save me the time and tell me which religion proves Christianity to be wrong?

[fezzyfestoon]

They all collectively prove themselves wrong with their insanity.  Isolating one for yourself is a way of insulating yourself from the fact that it's been done and is not a uniquely insightful work of fantasy.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

They all collectively prove themselves wrong with their insanity.  Isolating one for yourself is a way of insulating yourself from the fact that it's been done and is not a uniquely insightful work of fantasy.

like I thought - you have nothing to say

[fezzyfestoon]

Haha yep, that doesn't exist.  Ok, Kim Jong Il.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.

outside of Christianity and old testament Judaism, I know about as little as I can of other religions....so I would probably score very low on this test

So how do you evangelize others if you don't even know what they believe?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

outside of Christianity and old testament Judaism, I know about as little as I can of other religions....so I would probably score very low on this test

That's a good way to approach life, actively learn as little as possible about things that might prove you wrong.  Good luck with that, Stalin.

can you just save me the time and tell me which religion proves Christianity to be wrong?

You think having knowledge of other religious views is about confirming or dis confirming your own views.

That's pretty superficial faith.

I'm an agnostic and have no concerns about that - raised Anglican (Episcopalian), but I find the belief systems that drive others fascinating... but that doesn't mean I'm going change my beliefs based on that. I mean, I studied the rise of Nazism in Germany and 'Communism' in Russia... I'm neither a Nazi nor a Communist.

[Јas]

outside of Christianity and old testament Judaism, I know about as little as I can of other religions....so I would probably score very low on this test

That's a good way to approach life, actively learn as little as possible about things that might prove you wrong.  Good luck with that, Stalin.

can you just save me the time and tell me which religion proves Christianity to be wrong?

Well, there's this other book which says that it's the infallible word of the creator and that those who don't believe it are in for some unpleasantness. I'm sure you'll agree it's logic is as unassailable as your own.

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[dead0man]

For the most part the list makes sense.  Agnostics and Jews are well rounded, then a bunch of generics in the middle and the brown people at the bottom*.  The only thing sticking out at me are the Mormons.  Sure they're always nice and rarely moronic (it's much easier to find a moronic Baptist, Catholic or Sunni), but I've never taken them to be that knowledgeable about world religions.  I'd like to see how Islam would do here.


*is pointing that out racist?

[minionofmidas]

The Questions on Christianity are far more in-depth than the others. Also, more Anglosaxoncentric (The Great Awakening? Joseph Smith? Two questions on US Constitutional interpretation? Why the hell should anybody who's neither American nor Christian even care?)
Don't get me wrong, this was a survey about Americans' knowlege, most of whom are Christian, so it makes a considerable amount of sense, but it still needs pointing out.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

wow, this was a pretty simple test, I got 13 out of 15 (top 7%)...I missed questions relating to Taoism/Hinduism/Buddhism.

LATE EDIT:  I guessed correctly the answer to "Which one of these preachers participated in the period of religious activity known as the First Great Awakening?"

...so, I really only "knew" 12 out of 15...I also checked the full version of the survey and there weren't any other questions on religion I didn't know.  So, as has been evident thoughout my years on this forum, I know very little about Taoism/Hinduism/Buddhism...and I don't know much history of the Christian church beyond what was written by the early church fathers and what is in the bible.

...basically, my test results would have been extremely predictable for anyone who knows me.

[Storebought]

The results are similar to those of any knowledge-based IQ test. Peculiar that they didn't quiz Muslims or members of any of the Asian religions.

[Storebought]

The Questions on Christianity are far more in-depth than the others. Also, more Anglosaxoncentric (The Great Awakening? Joseph Smith? Two questions on US Constitutional interpretation? Why the hell should anybody who's neither American nor Christian even care?)
Don't get me wrong, this was a survey about Americans' knowlege, most of whom are Christian, so it makes a considerable amount of sense, but it still needs pointing out.

Entirely in keeping with a knowledge- or culturally-based IQ test.

[The Mikado]

Isn't Jonathan Edwards the "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" guy?  I remembered his name in the quiz.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Isn't Jonathan Edwards the "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" guy?  I remembered his name in the quiz.

He is; we're studying him in APUSH

[minionofmidas]

The results are similar to those of any knowledge-based IQ test. Peculiar that they didn't quiz Muslims or members of any of the Asian religions.

Insufficient sample size, I suppose.