I am the product of many things including twelve years of parochial school and, yes, four years at a Jesuit college. The headline "Basic Religion Test Stumps Many Americans" grabbed me because the last time I took a religion quiz was, well, quite a few moons ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/us/28religion.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=homepage
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life surveyed 3,412 Americans on a myriad of basic facts about a variety of religions and the results, as evidenced in the New York Times headline, were not impressive. Laurie Goodstein of the Times writes, "On average, people who took the survey answered half the questions incorrectly, and many flubbed even questions about their own faith." Mystifying? Well, knowing the essential facts about any organization in which we are members seems like an innocuous expectation. But is it required? Does one's membership in an organized religion carry this presumption?
It can be argued that if we are citizens of the world, basic knowledge about the variety of religions, especially those with huge numbers of followers, is a reasonable expectation. What intrigues me about the quiz is not knowing the facts, but how we interpret the results. The Pew web site provides a detailed explanation about the survey they developed and the results. Lastly, the complete questionnaire used in the study is also available on the web site.
http://www.pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Belief_and_Practices/religious-knowledge-questionnaire.pdf
I think if someone is a member of a secular group, say the Lions Club or the YMCA, they may or may not know the nuts and bolts of the club's history but their membership is no less valid than the club's historian. Religion, however, carries a certain "x" factor because the spirituality within religion translates personally to each believer. Does my relationship with whomever or whatever I behold as greater than myself rely on facts and figures? I think not. Yet, it is interesting to see how people fared because the group whose performance garnered the most correct answers was atheists.
The Times article asked Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists, his thoughts on the Pew Trust's findings. “I have heard many times that atheists know more about religion than religious people,” Mr. Silverman said. “Atheism is an effect of that knowledge, not a lack of knowledge. I gave a Bible to my daughter. That’s how you make atheists.” The Times article did not have comments from any leaders representing those groups whose correct answers put them in second and third place namely the Jews and Mormons.
The US population has topped the 300,000,000 mark - so a survey of less than 3,500 citizens paints with a fairly narrow brush. The Times article also notes, "there were not enough Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu respondents to say how those groups ranked." Understanding the narrow scope of the results, I think it still makes for an interesting discussion. Whether or not one knows Mother Teresa was Roman Catholic (not a Hindu) working in a nation largely made up of Hindus does not undermine how one feels about the work she did.
I know what you're thinking - blah, blah, blah - how did I do in the surveys? Well, the Times article has a mini version of the survey with six questions and I scored five out of six. The Pew Trust's fifteen question interactive survey on their website (the link is above) stumped me twice so I got thirteen out of fifteen. More importantly, I thought alot about what is it that I value about religion? I think feeling grounded in something spiritual coats me in love. I think the Beatles nailed it when they sang, "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." Keep the quiz - I'll answer to love every time.
So funny, I too, am a product of 12 years of private Catholic education, followed by college at a Jesuit school (not on purpose).
ReplyDeleteI read this article yesterday, and as you, missed 2 of 15.
I do think it is important for all of us to have a basic knowledge of religion.
Firstly, if you profess a religion, you should certainly know what it is you claim to believe or reject. Doesn't that go without saying?
Secondly, as global citizens, I think we should have a working knowledge of other religions. Why?? Here is an example. We study African American history. Not all of us are African American, but as neighbors, we should share an interest in knowing their history and culture. I would think that we would all want to know something about each other, whoever we are!
Thank you for the topic!