Atheists know more about religion than the Believers

[Catz Part Deux]

Survey: Americans don't know much about religion

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

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.

I guess this just goes along with our lack of knowledge of geography, history, civics, and math...

 

[d0gbreath]

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

Faith is easier without facts.

 

[tlmorg02]

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

I do not find this surprising at all. It seems that most people simply go to church and listen to the preacher, do the rituals, and spend no time reading the bible or learning church history. Just like everything else in this country anymore, people want to undergo the least amount of effort in anything they do, apparently their spirituality is included.

 

[Slartibartfast]

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

I was expecting more doctrinal type questions.

U.S. Religious Knowledge Quiz

 

[Cephus]

I do however respect them (and most people who have a faith) for an ability that I don't have.

That's like envying the insane for having an "ability" you don't have. Believing something, even though there's no good, rational reason to think it's actually true is not something that anyone ought to be proud of.

 

[reefedjib]

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

I was expecting more doctrinal type questions.

U.S. Religious Knowledge Quiz

I scored 73%. One was a goof and what the hell is the First Great Awakening? I wasn't sure if a public school teacher could lead a class in prayer (No) or read from the bible (Yes).

 

[Cephus]

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.

The problem is, it's not a non-literal subject. If you believe in God, God is either actually real or not. There is no third option. If God is real, then all the disbelief in the world is pointless. If God is not real, then all the belief in the world is pointless. Just because believing in God gives someone an ego boost doesn't mean it's a good thing to believe in, any more than believing in unicorns or fairies is.

Deal with the actual reality. Stop acting like the world owes you an ego stroking.

 

[Slartibartfast]

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

I scored 73%. One was a goof and what the hell is the First Great Awakening? I wasn't sure if a public school teacher could lead a class in prayer (No) or read from the bible (Yes).

Johnathan Edwards. It was the 1800s fire and brimstone revival in New England. (Sinners in the hands of an angry God and all of that)

No

Yes

 

[Cephus]

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.

Except it's a poll about religion, not a specific religion. It demonstrates that overall, atheists do know more about religion in general than theists do. I'm willing to bet that if they did a poll specifically about Christianity or Islam or Buddhism, atheists would still win against believers in those faiths, especially if the questions were at all in-depth. The majority of theists have never given a moment's thought to what they pretend to believe, they do it because they think it makes them look good to the neighbors.

 

[Cephus]

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 might work for them, that doesn't make it right. Believing in invisible gnomes living on your shoulder might "work" for a believer, but the fact remains, it's a load of nonsense. Anyone who is willing to swallow complete and utter bunk just because it gives them an ego stroking... has issues.

 

[tlmorg02]

It might work for them, that doesn't make it right. Believing in invisible gnomes living on your shoulder might "work" for a believer, but the fact remains, it's a load of nonsense. Anyone who is willing to swallow complete and utter bunk just because it gives them an ego stroking... has issues.

Why does faith bother you so much. You seem to look down at those who have faith. I can understand why you do not, but why the aggression towards the practice in general?

 

[OscarB63]

Why does faith bother you so much. You seem to look down at those who have faith. I can understand why you do not, but why the aggression towards the practice in general?

seems to be a common failing among many "atheists", that smug sense of superiority.

 

[Gardener]

All the humble skeptics are agnostics.

 

[Catz Part Deux]

seems to be a common failing among many "atheists", that smug sense of superiority.

I think it is a response to the smug superiority we've experienced at the hands of believers. It can get old, from both sides.

 

[TaskmasterX]

Why does faith bother you so much. You seem to look down at those who have faith. I can understand why you do not, but why the aggression towards the practice in general?

seems to be a common failing among many "atheists", that smug sense of superiority.

And implying that those that don't believe in your ideas will burn in hell, isn't a sense of superiority? Faith is denying all the hard facts that the non-believer is pointing out. It would seem faith is superior to what reality actually shows.

 

[tlmorg02]

I think it is a response to the smug superiority we've experienced at the hands of believers. It can get old, from both sides.

With this I can agree, it does indeed become tiring. However, I would think that atheists would be more inclined to tolerance, as they are not bound by tenets of religion, and many claim to be so, yet the tolerance to the religious many have not.

 

[TaskmasterX]

With this I can agree, it does indeed become tiring. However, I would think that atheists would be more inclined to tolerance, as they are not bound by tenets of religion, and many claim to be so, yet the tolerance to the religious many have not.

Would you be tolerant of someone saying "believe what I believe or burn in hell"?

 

[tlmorg02]

And implying that those that don't believe in your ideas will burn in hell, isn't a sense of superiority? Faith is denying all the hard facts that the non-believer is pointing out. It would seem faith is superior to what reality actually shows.

I never said that the majority of religious are tolerant, nor lack the same air of superiority, I simply asked why he was so aggressive towards though who have faith.

 

[OscarB63]

Would you be tolerant of someone saying "believe what I believe or burn in hell"?

as tolerant as I would of someone saying "you're an idiot for believing in a magical jew man in the sky"

If you are a true atheist, what the **** do you care what a "believer" thinks or says?

 

[tlmorg02]

Would you be tolerant of someone saying "believe what I believe or burn in hell"?

Of course, because we would not be playing on an even ball-field. What other method would a religion use to insure that people became part of their faith and stayed within the tenets if there was no harsh consequence for not doing so? They are not utilizing fact nor data, but belief and if that belief makes their life better for them, then I am fine with that. People can call me whatever they want, but that effects me little, if at all. Now, if we were arguing physics or something based on actual data, then I could argue as needed and have no tolerance for one without the facts, but this is a totally different thing.

 

[OscarB63]

And implying that those that don't believe in your ideas will burn in hell, isn't a sense of superiority? Faith is denying all the hard facts that the non-believer is pointing out. It would seem faith is superior to what reality actually shows.

yep, there's that smug sense of superiority I was talking about. :thumbs:

 

[Cephus]

Why does faith bother you so much. You seem to look down at those who have faith. I can understand why you do not, but why the aggression towards the practice in general?

Because it's believing something that's just not true. How many wars have started, how many murders have occurred, because people had "faith" in ridiculous things? I'm sure the guy on the corner with his hand in his shirt who thinks he's Napoleon has plenty of "faith" that he's right, but we have another word for it. Crazy.

 

[Cephus]

If you are a true atheist, what the **** do you care what a "believer" thinks or says?

At the risk of Godwinning, that's like saying "what do you care what the Nazis think?"

The problem is, no matter what the "believers" think, they don't tend to keep it to themselves, it tends to pollute everyone around them and eventually, damages the society in which all of us live.

That's why we care.

 

[TaskmasterX]

I never said that the majority of religious are tolerant, nor lack the same air of superiority, I simply asked why he was so aggressive towards though who have faith.

And I replied that a person's faith is implied as being superior to what non-believers actually observe in reality. If they come to a forum broadcasting their ideas, then how is it superior to disagree. Atheists don't want to build a mosque next to ground zero nor burn a book simply to incite more hatred among themselves. Are we not allowed to call out to these problems that religion forces on the world? What problems in the world has an atheist caused?

 

[OscarB63]

At the risk of Godwinning, that's like saying "what do you care what the Nazis think?"

The problem is, no matter what the "believers" think, they don't tend to keep it to themselves, it tends to pollute everyone around them and eventually, damages the society in which all of us live.

That's why we care.

the same could be said about atheists. just depends on which side of the fence you are on.