Atheists know more about religion than the Believers

[RightinNYC]

As has been touched on by several people, I think this can be explained by the fact that religion is a default position for most people, while atheism is generally something that people affirmatively decide to follow.

Someone who is born into a religious family and remains religious might care about looking into religion or might not. This group will be comprised of both the informed and the uninformed. Someone who is born into a religious family and becomes an atheist is likely to have made that transition as a result of looking into religion. This group will be primarily comprised of the informed. The lazy and uninformed will generally remain at the default position, whatever that is.

 

[BCR]

U.S. Religious Knowledge Quiz
13/15
miss 2 14,15
should have got 14
had no ideal on 15

13/15 also, missed 8 and 15. I wouldn't really consider myself very knowledgable about religion, shoot I have only read the bible a handful of times. I usually get my information about The Bible from videos and articles. I do know a lot about the Mormon religion though, very interesting stuff there.

 

[niftydrifty]

I find this article and thread to be funny. because when I hear atheists speak about religion I hear them get the whole jist of religion nearly all wrong. so the "facts" are in place, but what is it in the first place?

in a discussion such as this one, it's necessary to make a distinction between literalist interpretations and religious ones. whether a believer or not, the literalist can only, in reality, know nothing of religion at all.

in this sense, the atheist and the hardline fundamentalist are one and the same. ie., deluded, and wrong.

applied knowledge is important.

so, the Pew study seems to prove that nonbelievers have collected more book facts in their literal case against a non-literal subject.

that isn't smart. that's kinda tragic.

 

[mike2810]

I took the Pew survey and got 14 out of 15 correct. I believe in God and Jesus. The only one I missed was the question regarding sacrifice with the answer Job. IMO, you can do what you want with surveys and statistics to come up with some slant one way or another. It is interesting that the question I missed had to do with christiantiy.

 

[OscarB63]

I find it funny that you can take the results of a survey that asks questions about multiple religions and then make a blanket statement "atheists know more about religion than believers"

how much does your average muslim really know about christianity or mormons or hindus?

 

[hallam]

So I read through the survey that is linked through the shortened quiz, and only 19 question about religion and some of those were about history and not religion. I might add that 15 on quiz is not a religion question, it is a history question. I would take this finding with a grain of salt especially since it works out to be only 2 or three questions about Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, or Hinduism.

For honesty sake I got 12 on the quiz, didn't know 15 so i guessed, missed job, and knew the Sabbath started on Friday just seconds after clicking on the button.

 

[Hatuey]

I find it funny that you can take the results of a survey that asks questions about multiple religions and then make a blanket statement "atheists know more about religion than believers"

how much does your average muslim really know about christianity or mormons or hindus?

Did you also take a class in quantitative studies? The article specifically pits religious vs. non-religious. There is then a further breakdown among religious groups. In other words this all means that the religious as a whole are pretty ignorant of not only the religions of others but heir own.

 

[Mustachio]

I got 14 as well, I was looking at the percentages of people who answered correctly. I was surprised that so many people missed the question about reading from the bible as an example of literature. I would have gotten the last question right if I could have answered "not Billy Graham." That wasn't an option, for some reason.

I think that atheists and agnostics know more about religion because it's harder to be an atheist than a religious person. The more you reject the standard, the more you have to think about why and explain why you're doing it. For people to say "I'm Christian," or whatever they were raised as, is just easier. God exists, you shouldn't steal because the bible says not to, and you don't have to fear death because you'll go to heaven. Easy. There is no god, there is no definitive ethical action besides what your conscience tells you, and death is the last dance. That sucks. It's what I believe, but it ain't always easy.

 

[Guy Incognito]

I got 15/15 as well. But the last one about the great Awakening was a guess, as I remembered something about some old timey Evangelical with a similar name to John Edwards. I also disagree with the question about Job being most closely associated with obedience to God despite suffering. I realize that may be the case in popular culture, which is why I got the question right, but if you study the Bible, it is clear that Abraham's story is one of obedience despite the most intense form of agony. Job might have been faithful despite worldly suffering, but Abraham was faithful when he thought that even God Himself was out to get him.

 

[OscarB63]

Did you also take a class in quantitative studies? The article specifically pits religious vs. non-religious. There is then a further breakdown among religious groups. In other words this all means that the religious as a whole are pretty ignorant of not only the religions of others but heir own.

actually all this means is that the results of one survey showed exactly what the surveyors wanted it to show.... :shock:

 

[Mustachio]

I got 15/15 as well. But the last one was a guess. I also disagree with the question about Job being most closely associated with obedience to God despite suffering. I realize that may be the case in popular culture, which is why I got the question right, but if you study the Bible, it is clear that Abraham's story is one of obedience despite the most intense form of agony. Job might have been faithful despite worldly suffering, but Abraham was faithful when he thought that even God Himself was out to get him.

You're thinking too hard about it. You must be one of those damn atheists.

 

[Guy Incognito]

You're thinking too hard about it. You must be one of those damn atheists.

:lol: I just wish most Christians thought as deeply about Christianity as most atheists.

Oh and actually I'm a Catholic.

 

[niftydrifty]

So I read through the survey that is linked through the shortened quiz, and only 19 question about religion and some of those were about history and not religion. I might add that 15 on quiz is not a religion question, it is a history question. I would take this finding with a grain of salt.

Indeed, everyone should check out the actual study. The Pew people refer to it as a "religious knowledge" survey. It includes a question asking what an atheist is, which obviously isn't a question about a religion at all. The survey ALSO asks what an agnostic is. Funny, the same regular suspects all goin' hawg-wild at the beginnin' of this thread can be found elsewhere saying atheism is not a religion. But, conveniently, a question about atheism on a survey, is a question about "religious knowledge".

U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey - Who Knows What About Religion - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

On average, they say that atheists/agnostics got about 4 more questions correct than the average Christian. but wouldn't you know it, that is just about the same number of questions on the survey that anyone would easily consider to not about anything having to do with "religion".

Another question on the survey is about the US Constitution. A question about the Constitution is a question about religion? And what about what the Supreme Court has ruled? Is a question about that, a question "about religion?"

From the Pew link:

For comparison purposes, the survey also included nine questions about knowledge of topics other than religion.

Seriously, everyone, go to the link, and rethink your positions. Please get back to me about blind faith.

 

[Hatuey]

actually all this means is that the results of one survey showed exactly what the surveyors wanted it to show.... :shock:

Only that's not true. There's no reason for Christians to know less about their own religion than Atheists. Did you notice that the majority of the questions were geared towards Christians? 10 out of 15 questions to be exact.

 

[jallman]

U.S. Religious Knowledge Quiz
13/15
miss 2 14,15
should have got 14
had no ideal on 15

You answered 15 out of 15 questions correctly
for a score of 100%.

I kinda guessed on number 15 by eliminating the ones I knew it couldn't be.

 

[jallman]

Only that's not true. There's no reason for Christians to know less about their own religion than Atheists. Did you notice that the majority of the questions were geared towards Christians? 10 out of 15 questions to be exact.

Only that's not true. From a purely religious perspective, there is no reason for a Catholic to even acknowledge Martin Luther or Johnathan Edwards. From a purely religious perspective, there is no reason for a Baptist to even know anything about Mother Teresa. The questions weren't geared toward religious knowledge as much as they were toward historical knowledge and general knowledge of the different religions without delving into their spiritual basis.

There is nothing here to indicate that atheists know Christianity better than Christians. There is also nothing here to indicate that Christians know Christianity better than atheists either. That's simply now what the survey was geared toward.

 

[VanceMack]

An interesting story...

Atheists, agnostics most knowledgeable about religion, survey says - latimes.com



I'm an agnostic and was raised as a Christian and I find it funny that so many Christians I encounter assume that my lack of faith is simply the result of not having heard the story of Jesus Christ. To the contrary, I attended Sunday School, youth groups, scout groups, and sermons over the course of my childhood but as I grew up and learned more about the history of the Bible, I stopped taking it seriously. While I won't profess whether or not there is a God, what is clear is that humanity does not have a workable or testable definition of God. Furthermore, I detest some of the philosophers of the Bible, particularly Paul. Like Thomas Jefferson, I think Paul was the first person to truly distort the teachings of Jesus Christ and he also introduced some Greek philosophical views, at times verbatim, that science has thoroughly debunked.

I suspect thats likely because most 'religous' people tend to take a lot of things on faith and dont REALLY get into in depth studies about their faith until their faith becomes challenged. Whereas most people that are anti-religous are bitter angry unhappy little people that really study as much as they can to try and make smug little points and make others as miserable and unhappy as they themselves are.

Its not an uncommon phenomenon. Hell, look at all the people here that are SO MUCH more schooled on the day to day output of the Glenn Beck show. Bitter pissed off unhappy people miserable enough in their own sad little lives that they invest way too much time attacking others and hoping MAYBE their attacks will give them some tiny sense of satisfaction and happiness.

Need another example? Look how many people attack libertarians...people who espouse a political ideology but have aboslutely ZERO political representation. And look at the people that ignore democrats and republicans who cooperatively have put us into a 14 trillion dollar debt and done an absolutely dismal job of governing and instead focus their hatred on of all things...the Tea Party.

So...really...is it THAT surprising? Of course not.

 

[Hatuey]

Only that's not true. From a purely religious perspective, there is no reason for a Catholic to even acknowledge Martin Luther or Johnathan Edwards.

Unless of course you take into consideration that Martin Luther was one of the biggest critics of the Catholic Church.

From a purely religious perspective, there is no reason for a Baptist to even know anything about Mother Teresa.

Other than the fact that she was a Christian herself? Which is what the question was? Well alright :|

The questions weren't geared toward religious knowledge as much as they were toward historical knowledge and general knowledge of the different religions without delving into their spiritual basis.

Except for those questions on the commandments, Moses, Elijah, Sabbath etc.

There is nothing here to indicate that atheists know Christianity better than Christians.

Except for a survey in which atheists outperformed Christians.

There is also nothing here to indicate that Christians know Christianity better than atheists either. That's simply now what the survey was geared toward.

Yah huh.

 

[RightinNYC]

Only that's not true. There's no reason for Christians to know less about their own religion than Atheists. Did you notice that the majority of the questions were geared towards Christians? 10 out of 15 questions to be exact.

FWIW, the actual survey was 32 questions, and included questions about greek mythology, constitutional law, and the religious demographics of various countries. The 15 question quiz is just an online selection that Pew put together for people to take for fun.

I don't think that knowing about Zeus, understanding con law, or remembering the majority religion of Indonesia has much to do with "religious knowledge." Also, as Jallman noted, there's no reason to assume that a Catholic should know more about Protestantism than an atheist, and perhaps even a reason to assume that they should know less. Most catholics were born as catholics and have remained as such for their entire life. Most atheists were raised in a religion, most frequently Protestantism.

 

[jallman]

Unless of course you take into consideration that Martin Luther was one of the biggest critics of the Catholic Church.

Take it into consideration if you want. That's not going to be a topic of sunday school in a Catholic Church and it's certainly not going to be a topic of a mass or liturgy. So no, it has no bearing on whether catholics know, from a purely religious perspective, the first thing about Martin Luther.

Other than the fact that she was a Christian herself? Which is what the question was? Well alright :|

No, not alright. Many protestants argue that Catholics aren't even Christians. And the question was what religion she was, not what brand of Christianity she was. So still, no bearing, from a religious perspective, on whether a Christian knows his own faith.

Except for those questions on the commandments, Moses, Elijah, Sabbath etc.

I see no reason for a Christian to know the technicalities of the Jewish Sabbath. As for the commandments, I think the stats under the pew survey showed that an overwhelming number of people got those right.

Except for a survey in which atheists outperformed Christians.

Except that the questions were not geared towards matters of religion. They were geared towards history and mythology. So no, atheists did not "out perform" Christians in terms of religious knowledge.

Yah huh.

Yah nuh uh. :roll:

 

[RightinNYC]

Other than the fact that she was a Christian herself? Which is what the question was? Well alright :|

The question asked whether she was Catholic. Catholics and most protestants got that question right at almost the same rate as atheists/agnostics.

Except for those questions on the commandments, Moses, Elijah, Sabbath etc.

Protestants beat atheists/agnostics on the majority of those questions. White evangelicals in particular beat them on 6/7.

Except for a survey in which atheists outperformed Christians.

Think about it this way - in a 32 question quiz, atheists/agnostics averaged 20.9 while Christians averaged 15.7 - a gap of 5.2 questions. Seems big, right?

On questions about the Bible, atheists led 4.4-4.2
On questions about Christianity, atheists led 6.7-6.2
On questions about Judaism, atheists led 4.0-3.5
On questions about Mormonism, atheists led 2.1-1.3
On questions about "world religions," atheists led 7.5-4.7
On questions about con law, atheists led 2.8-2.1

Of the 5.2 question gap between atheists and Christians, exactly 0.7 of it came from questions about the Bible or Christianity. The vast majority of the gap came from questions about world religions, con law, or Mormonism. When you adjust for all the other factors already mentioned, as well as for the fairly obvious demographic differences, I think the results are nowhere near as startling as they're being portrayed.

 

[tryreading]

U.S. Religious Knowledge Quiz
13/15
miss 2 14,15
should have got 14
had no ideal on 15

Got 14, missed the Body of Christ one. Duh.

 

[Ikari]

The majority of atheists started out as religious, we know all about religion and, in fact, tend to know a lot more about religion because we've not only been involved, but studied it in detail. Perhaps that's why we're atheists, the more we studied religion, the sillier it got. The death of religion is the rise of knowledge about religion.

Meh, atheism works for me. I couldn't really find anything which made sense to me. But that isn't to say there isn't value or worth in it. Many people derive a plethora of positive results from it, and if it's right for them; it's right for them. I doubt that, given human nature, religion in some form or fashion would ever die out.

 

[SheWolf]

This is sad but most likely true. It's a shame that many religious people are ignorant of their faith. Most likely they just go through the motions and don't really believe what their religion teaches. When I was an atheist I researched many faiths.

A lot of churches don't even follow their faith or the bible correctly, so I am not surprised by this at all.

 

[TaskmasterX]

Meh, atheism works for me. I couldn't really find anything which made sense to me. But that isn't to say there isn't value or worth in it. Many people derive a plethora of positive results from it, and if it's right for them; it's right for them. I doubt that, given human nature, religion in some form or fashion would ever die out.

It's right for them because they pick and choose which parts (and which hard questions to ignore) of the religion suits the way they want to live their lives. If they don't like something that is said in their church, they move to another one. If they don't like a certain ritual, they move to a different denomination. Religion does not mold ones life, rather religion is molded to fit ones life.