A recent survey of religious knowledge in the States has come up with some interesting results. When asked 32 questions the group that did best, on average, was --drum roll please -- the atheists at 21 correct answers. Jews and Mormons were right up there, with Christians of various stripes trailing the pack. In fact the Mormons, who some consider a cult, did better than Christians on the questions about Christianity. Remember that the US is generally considered the most religious of developed countries. Apparently religious in sensibility but not in knowledge.http://www.pewforum.org/Other-Beliefs-and-Practices/U-S-Religious-Knowledge-Survey.aspx
Somehow this doesn't surprise me. It is always the temptation for the dominant culture, including the dominant religious culture to assume that it is better informed simply by virtue of being the biggest show in town. I figure the atheists have done more work figuring out why they don't believe, and other minority religious groups are more inclined to figure out the competition.
I don't think we have any reason to be smug here in Canada. It is such an uphill battle to get folk involved in adult Christian education or exploration of other faiths. Why do so many figure that religious education is over and done with at age12 or 13, with the exception of going to church? It would be interesting to see how we would do on a similar survey.
Any comments on this survey? How do you think you would do? Are you still learning and growing as a person of faith or as someone interested in faith issues?
The results don't surprise me. It's said we learn more from people we disagree with, than those we agree with so other faiths learning about Christianity to clarify/solidify/defend their own beliefs, however different, makes sense to me. Perhaps we've never had to defend our beliefs as the dominant faith in a tolerant country so our rather general understanding has gotten us by just fine.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember enough of what I must have learned at Sunday School and so do keep reading and learning about my faith, and as I work with the young kids in our congregation am soul searching to try and figure the best way to combine the knowledge of our faith
with the implications of that knowledge.
I'm not surprised.
ReplyDeletePlease don't ask me the 32 questions.
I hate to say it, but I'm sure I could tell you more about Baseball, or Hockey than Jesus and his deciples.
Jays just set a franchise reccord for home runs in a season, and the Leafs still don't have a chance. I'm afraid the Jesus our lord will be back before Lord Stanley comes back to Toronto.
Now there's a wise reponse Laura. Many Sunday School teachers have told me through the years that teaching young 'uns pushes them to consider their own faith.
ReplyDeleteGood observation sjd. Coach Jesus would need to fill out that roster of disciples with another nine players to get a full NHL roster.
And to accentuate the positive in your response, you know that many Christian traditions anticipate the return of Jesus in glory, which is much harder to believe about the Leafs.