Society US Religious Knowledge Survey - Atheists score better than Believers

[Roflkopt3r]

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

The survey consisted of 23 questions: 12 about Christianity and the bible, 11 about world religions and 4 about religion in public U.S. life.
A ranking is on the linked page: Atheists/Agnostics scored best with 20.9/23 correct answers in average compared to: "Protestants as a whole average 16 correct answers; Catholics as a whole, 14.7."
Especially in "world religions" topic, believers scored surprisingly bad:
http://pewforum.org/uploadedImages/Topics/Belief_and_Practices/religious-knowledge-02.png

It's kinda sad in a way that especially those with religious believes know so few about other religions. Doesn't surprise me though.

 

[Drmke]

I heard about this a few days ago actually. And to me, its not really that big a surprise. Usually (as in not everyone), believers of a certain faith will reject the idea of learning about other religions because they feel its unnecessary, but it also seems to happen with their own faith. They just accept what they have been taught without actually reading and understanding it themselves.

Atheists and agnostics on the other had (also generally mind you), tend to be curious about the religions they don't believe in because they are surrounded by a world that, for the most part, does believe and they have to have some sort of defense.

 

[kkck]

Wonder if there could be some bias regarding the questions though. Catholics, protestants and other christian groups tend to have drastically different views regarding the same ideas. To name one, which I would think is extremely important, Catholics and a couple larger Christian organizations take an interpretative view of the bible(basically they do not belief the bible is meant to be read literally). On the other hand most protestant denominations tend to take a literal approach to the bible. Basically, answers to questions about "Christianity" can have significantly different answers between denominations. Who designed the questions and answers would also have an effect.

 

[Roflkopt3r]

Wonder if there could be some bias regarding the questions though. Catholics, protestants and other christian groups tend to have drastically different views regarding the same ideas. To name one, which I would think is extremely important, Catholics and a couple larger Christian organizations take an interpretative view of the bible(basically they do not belief the bible is meant to be read literally). On the other hand most protestant denominations tend to take a literal approach to the bible. Basically, answers to questions about "Christianity" can have significantly different answers between denominations. Who designed the questions and answers would also have an effect.

No, the questions are made to avoid such. They specifically ask for "how do catholics interprete xyz" for example, so they are precise enough to be answered regardless of personal views. All or most questions are visible on the Pew-Page so everyone can judge it themselves.
About Pew: A german news page states that they are a prestigious institue, wikipedia only says that they're a conservative institute. I'm undecided about how trustworthy and scientifically they are but don't doubt the results too much on the other hand.

I think that many religious people mainly are so because of education by parents and lack of knowledge of alternatives. At least in my mind the significance of religion becomes alot smaller to children once they know that religion isn't a fact amongst adults but something with many different point of views, and if they learn about this early on without prejudices it's much less likely that they will become truly religious themselves.

 

[swirlydragon]

Who cares?
Knowledge is not related to a person's belief.

 

[shionoro]

Who cares?
Knowledge is not related to a person's belief.

The study (and others) literally shows that the opposite is true.

 

[swirlydragon]

The study (and others) literally shows that the opposite is true.

I don't think "just one study" can prove this thing. If you've got curiosity then you will search for knowledge.
Most people don't even have interest in religion so they just follow the religion which is taught to them though that doesn't mean they might not have interest in other things like Science, Arts, Politics, Mathematics, etc.
Anyway, I think what this study suggests is that most atheists are curious about other religions while religious people aren't interested about other (or their own) religions at all, but that doesn't mean they lack knowledge.

 

[shionoro]

I don't think "just one study" can prove this thing. If you've got curiosity then you will search for knowledge.
Most people don't even have interest in religion so they just follow the religion which is taught to them though that doesn't mean they might not have interest in other things like Science, Arts, Politics, Mathematics, etc.
Anyway, I think what this study suggests is that most atheists are curious about other religions while religious people aren't interested about other (or their own) religions at all, but that doesn't mean they lack knowledge.

But several studies which contiously say that there is a correlation between education and views on religion do.
Those exist.
Let's please acknowledge that.