Pop Quiz on Religion
There was an article in the NY Times about research done by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (independent group) on what Americans know about religion. Very illuminating and also funny - I can hardly wait for the Daily Show and the Colbert Report will say and I was laughing at CBS news' own report. (Meaning, that even in a country that expresses itself so profoundly religious as ours, I would have thought people would do better.)
The researchers said that the questionnaire was designed to represent a breadth of knowledge about religion, but was not intended to be regarded as a list of the most essential facts about the subject. Most of the questions were easy, but a few were difficult enough to discern which respondents were highly knowledgeable.
They asked 3400 Americans 32 questions about the Bible, Christianity and other world religions, famous people, etc. Results?
“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.
So why do I bring this up? Because one of the questions was about religion in public schools.
An overwhelming 89 percent of respondents, asked whether public school teachers are permitted to lead a class in prayer, correctly answered no. But fewer than one of four knew that a public school teacher is permitted “to read from the Bible as an example of literature.” And only about one third knew that a public school teacher is permitted to offer a class comparing the world’s religions. The survey’s authors concluded that there was “widespread confusion” about “the line between teaching and preaching.”
I think it would be great if there was a world religions class in high school if you had the right teacher who could control the discussion i.e. not let kids go at each other's religion. It might make for a more tolerant AND informed group of citizens.
What's interesting to me is that SPS has places in many schools (I'm thinking primarily secondary as I haven't heard of this in elementary) for Muslim students to pray during the day. I've never asked why this is but it would seem an issue because then Christians or Jews might want a prayer room as well.
The researchers said that the questionnaire was designed to represent a breadth of knowledge about religion, but was not intended to be regarded as a list of the most essential facts about the subject. Most of the questions were easy, but a few were difficult enough to discern which respondents were highly knowledgeable.
They asked 3400 Americans 32 questions about the Bible, Christianity and other world religions, famous people, etc. Results?
- On average, people who took the survey answered half the questions incorrectly, and many flubbed even questions about their own faith.
- Those who scored the highest were atheists and agnostics, as well as two religious minorities: Jews and Mormons.
“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.
So why do I bring this up? Because one of the questions was about religion in public schools.
An overwhelming 89 percent of respondents, asked whether public school teachers are permitted to lead a class in prayer, correctly answered no. But fewer than one of four knew that a public school teacher is permitted “to read from the Bible as an example of literature.” And only about one third knew that a public school teacher is permitted to offer a class comparing the world’s religions. The survey’s authors concluded that there was “widespread confusion” about “the line between teaching and preaching.”
I think it would be great if there was a world religions class in high school if you had the right teacher who could control the discussion i.e. not let kids go at each other's religion. It might make for a more tolerant AND informed group of citizens.
What's interesting to me is that SPS has places in many schools (I'm thinking primarily secondary as I haven't heard of this in elementary) for Muslim students to pray during the day. I've never asked why this is but it would seem an issue because then Christians or Jews might want a prayer room as well.
Comments
Print copies for your friends.
They may become former friends when confronted by this challenge.
http://features.pewforum.org/quiz/us-religious-knowledge/?
This has a really cool comparison when you finish with lots of other groups. It is 15 quick questions.
Jews pray three times a day: morning, afternoon before sunset, and after sunset. Usually the latter two are combined with a brief intermission between them. Jewish schoolchildren can easily defer saying mincha, the afternoon prayers, until they get home. Most days it's a very brief service. People typically combine it with maariv, the evening prayers.
It isn't common practice for Christian lay people to recite the liturgy of the hours - matins (now called Office of Readings), lauds, terce, sext, none, vespers,and compline. I'm not a Christian, so I don't know what these services require.
I learned most of that stuff at state university - freshman humanities. I think that was a good place to learn it for me (a more diverse religious population than your average midwestern high school.) However, it's a shame that those who don't go to college or don't take humanities miss it. Maybe ignorance explains our intolerance.
Helen Schinske
The last question I guessed, but it really was an educated guess based on truly hazy memories.
Helen, I think there's a link to the whole survey. There was one question on it that I would have had to completely guess.
Melissa, I really don't see any question with Muslim kids having a place to pray, given the tenets of that religion. It seems weird to even ask. It's not a big deal, is it? Are there other students whose needs are not being met?
Again, it doesn't matter to me but they are some potential issues for the district.
I accidentally walked into a storage room at RHS a couple of years ago and found a boy kneeling on a rug. He and I were both embarrassed but there had been no notice on the door. I quickly left.
I was told by a staff person that they were trying to find a good place that would be quiet and private but they had to find separate ones for boys and girls, not always easy to do in a busy, well-used school.
As well, the policy is that a student can certainly leave class for prayers but that the student is responsible for anything he/she misses in class. This staffer said that it had been a bit of an issue that some students would dawdle going to and from prayers.
It's logistics, not whether someone can pray or not.
My take on the results, especially that atheists scored so well, is merely that atheists are on average better educated than people of faith. One can decide for themselves which is the cart and which is the horse.
atheist/agnostic-20.9/30
Jewish-20.5/30
Mormon-20.3/30
Are these statistically different that you'd say, "Boy, those agnostic and atheist people really know their religion better than anyone else!"