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New study finds atheists/agnostics "the most knowledgeable" about religion.
September 28, 2010 at 9:03 am
No surprises here:
"The survey is full of surprising findings.
For example, it's not evangelicals or Catholics who did best - it's atheists and agnostics.
It's not Bible-belt Southerners who scored highest - they came at the bottom.
Those who believe the Bible is the literal word of God did slightly worse than average, while those who say it is not the word of God scored slightly better.
Barely half of all Catholics know that when they take communion, the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ, according to Catholic doctrine.
And only about one in three know that a public school teacher is allowed to teach a comparative religion class - although nine out of 10 know that teacher isn't allowed by the Supreme Court to lead a class in prayer.
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life is behind the 32-question quiz, polling more than 3,400 Americans by telephone to gauge the depth of the country's religious knowledge."
Source:
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/28...udy-finds/
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RE: New study finds atheists/agnostics "the most knowledgeable" about religion.
September 28, 2010 at 9:18 am
No surprises here.
"How is it that a lame man does not annoy us while a lame mind does? Because a lame man recognizes that we are walking straight, while a lame mind says that it is we who are limping." - Pascal
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RE: New study finds atheists/agnostics "the most knowledgeable" about religion.
September 28, 2010 at 9:22 am
This explains the persistence of religion. If they knew how stupid their beliefs were, they'd all become atheists straight away.
Or maybe not.
But it still makes sense that they don't know about transubstantiation, because, even for Catholicism, that's pretty hard to swallow. Just like other fluids that the priests are in charge of.
'We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.' H.L. Mencken
'False religion' is the ultimate tautology.
'It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.' Mark Twain
'I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.' Abraham Lincoln
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RE: New study finds atheists/agnostics "the most knowledgeable" about religion.
September 28, 2010 at 9:37 am
As others have said, no surprise.
The most common deconversion story I've heard is "I started to read the Bible to become a better Christian and that's what led me to be an atheist".
I'll never forget this Catholic girl I dated when we went to see the musical "Jesus Christ, Superstar". I had to explain to her even basic details of the life of her supposed lord and savior.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
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RE: New study finds atheists/agnostics "the most knowledgeable" about religion.
September 28, 2010 at 10:02 am
What's the odds on most of the Christians polled were born into a family environment where questioning and research are considered second to blind faith and ignorance? Religion dosen't do to well when its questioned, if we could break the cycle of children being indoctrinated by parents who themselves were indoctrinated as children it would be only a short matter of time before religion was completely obsolete. A guy can dream.
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RE: New study finds atheists/agnostics "the most knowledgeable" about religion.
September 28, 2010 at 2:28 pm
How about we just don't decide for the children and when they get to an age where they question we leave it up to them, teach them to think on their own, and constantly question everything. Ignorance is a human condition not a religious one. I got 10/10 on the lame cnn quiz, but I'm not agnostic according to the definition within the quiz.
"There ought to be a term that would designate those who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, since the word 'Christian' has been largely divorced from those teachings, and so polluted by fundamentalists that it has come to connote their polar opposite: intolerance, vindictive hatred, and bigotry." -- Philip Stater, Huffington Post
always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
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RE: New study finds atheists/agnostics "the most knowledgeable" about religion.
September 28, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Of course, we're the smartest. Christians are the garbage heap of the world.
Trudging through endless religion one step at a time.
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RE: New study finds atheists/agnostics "the most knowledgeable" about religion.
September 28, 2010 at 4:59 pm
(September 28, 2010 at 2:28 pm)tackattack Wrote: How about we just don't decide for the children and when they get to an age where they question we leave it up to them, teach them to think on their own, and constantly question everything. Ignorance is a human condition not a religious one. I got 10/10 on the lame cnn quiz, but I'm not agnostic according to the definition within the quiz.
Thats what I think you will find most atheists agree with. Religious folks however have a nice attitude of ignorance that they pass on to children. How would a child learn to question and learn for itself when it gets told religion knows all the answers? Religious schools should not be allowed, and certainly shouldn't be state funded. Secular education, showing all sides of religion (including the bad) and then letting the child decide should be the way forwards.
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RE: New study finds atheists/agnostics "the most knowledgeable" about religion.
September 28, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Quote:Sixty percent of Americans can't name five of the Ten Commandments, an
Snicker....snicker!
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RE: New study finds atheists/agnostics "the most knowledgeable" about religion.
September 28, 2010 at 9:54 pm
(This post was last modified: September 28, 2010 at 9:57 pm by IceSage.)
The reason why there are so many religious people is because they don't actually READ the bible. They don't know what kind of car is under the "sheet." (Look up the video "Christianity doesn't crank," by TruthSurge.)
(Oh heck, I'll just post it. This forum's auto-converter keeps making the link a video when I want it to just be a link.)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WTfY7Dbx0pg
If people actually read the bible, they'd be appalled by what they read. They'd also think it's ridiculous. This is the majority, however. There are a lot of religious people who read the bible, fully comprehend it, and stick with it. Those are the people I appreciate. (Unless they're TO THE EXTREME.)
A lot of people are brought up with the religion, so it becomes a part of them. Usually it's the Atheist/Agnostics who want to learn about the religion, and don't buy into it because they're reading and learning all of the parts that are ignored / not taught by the religious folks.
I like the way you think!
...But please stop thinking, it's not you.
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