"Survey: Jews and Atheists Have More Religious Knowledge Than Christians"

[Darkforbid]

Most atheists were Christian, but with the reading and studying they do, they tend to know more than current Christians.

I think the test clearly shows education and information exposure are the key findings

 

[Shadow Wolf]

The test also shows the more time you spend studying religion the better your score. Which proves atheists are more fixated on religion

How so? Would it not equally suggest that atheists have to know it better to defend themselves against Christians who won't take no for an answer? Can it not suggest atheists are more interested in learning about other people and beliefs that aren't of their own "tribe?" (it does help in fostering positive relationships, after all) What about suggesting atheists have a greater appreciation of culture and wish to learn more about the world around them?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

The test also shows the more time you spend studying religion the better your score. Which proves atheists are more fixated on religion

How so? Would it not equally suggest that atheists have to know it better to defend themselves against Christians who won't take no for an answer? Can it not suggest atheists are more interested in learning about other people and beliefs that aren't of their own "tribe?" (it does help in fostering positive relationships, after all) What about suggesting atheists have a greater appreciation of culture and wish to learn more about the world around them?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Most atheists were Christian, but with the reading and studying they do, they tend to know more than current Christians.

Is there any evidence that most atheists were Christian?
But I have commonly heard "reading the Bible" as a reason ex-Christians became ex-Christians.

 

[Darkforbid]

How so? Would it not equally suggest that atheists have to know it better to defend themselves against Christians who won't take no for an answer? Can it not suggest atheists are more interested in learning about other people and beliefs that aren't of their own "tribe?" (it does help in fostering positive relationships, after all) What about suggesting atheists have a greater appreciation of culture and wish to learn more about the world around them?

How is all the learning you mention not time spend studying and why would an atheist spend time on religion if it's all rubbish unless they are fixated

 

[Shadow Wolf]

How is all the learning you mention not time spend studying and why would an atheist spend time on religion if it's all rubbish unless they are fixated

You don't have to be fixated on something you find rubbish in order to study it. Philosophers are known for doing it.

 

[Sand Dancer]

Is there any evidence that most atheists were Christian?
But I have commonly heard "reading the Bible" as a reason ex-Christians became ex-Christians.

I had saved a website showing that 2/3 of atheists were raised Christian (as most of us were in previous generations) but I need to find it. I deleted it because I was going to stop debating Christians on the topic.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I had saved a website showing that 2/3 of atheists were raised Christian (as most of us were in previous generations) but I need to find it. I deleted it because I was going to stop debating Christians on the topic.

I assume this is perhaps an American group in the study?

 

[Tumah]

I think the test clearly shows education and information exposure are the key findings

Not exactly:

Religious affiliation also remains a good predictor of religious knowledge in these models. Even after education, race and other factors are considered, it is still the case that atheists, Jews, agnostics and evangelical Protestants perform better than other religious groups on this survey. Compared with the national average, atheists get an additional 2.4 questions correct, Jews 2.3 questions, agnostics 1.7 questions and evangelicals 1.4 questions.

At the other end of the spectrum, members of the historically black Protestant tradition and those who say their religion is “nothing in particular” trail other groups even after demographic factors are taken into account. Mainline Protestants, Catholics and Mormons fall in the middle and more closely resemble the general public.
-source​

 

[Erebus]

Don't feel bad. I almost got that one wrong too. I noticed that it asked when the Jewish Sabbath starts, not when it is. Technically, we start it on Friday from both a non-Jewish (Friday ends 12:00 AM, long after sunset) and Jewish perspective (the custom is to start it at least 18 minutes before sunset, so that's 18 minutes before the Seventh Day).

This was the one I got wrong.

It shouldn't be surprising really that people on this forum are getting very high scores on this test. If you've taken the time to sign up to and engage in discussions on a religious forum, you almost certainly have a higher than average interest in the subject. You'll also be exposed to a variety of beliefs outside the dominant ones in your area.

I definitely believe that religious education in general badly needs to diversify. My own education throughout both primary school and secondary school focused exclusively on the Abrahamic religions. I didn't have a single lesson on Hinduism, Buddhism or Sikhism, let alone Shinto, Baha'i or Wicca. Of the religions we did cover, we had almost no context on the history of the various beliefs and practices covered. We were taught a list of facts but rarely given anything beyond that.

 

[Darkforbid]

Not exactly:

Religious affiliation also remains a good predictor of religious knowledge in these models. Even after education, race and other factors are considered, it is still the case that atheists, Jews, agnostics and evangelical Protestants perform better than other religious groups on this survey. Compared with the national average, atheists get an additional 2.4 questions correct, Jews 2.3 questions, agnostics 1.7 questions and evangelicals 1.4 questions.

At the other end of the spectrum, members of the historically black Protestant tradition and those who say their religion is “nothing in particular” trail other groups even after demographic factors are taken into account. Mainline Protestants, Catholics and Mormons fall in the middle and more closely resemble the general public.
-source​

How does citing the research findings on educational background affect my argument about information exposure and study

 

[Tumah]

How does citing the research findings on educational background affect my argument about information exposure and study

Well, the words you actually used was "education and information exposure", not information exposure and study. So citing the researches accounting for education among the sectors would be exactly the type of information that would be relevant.

 

[Darkforbid]

Well, the words you actually used was "education and information exposure", not information exposure and study. So citing the researches accounting for education among the sectors would be exactly the type of information that would be relevant.

Thanks for agreeing

 

[Sand Dancer]

I assume this is perhaps an American group in the study?

Yes, it is.

 

[Milton Platt]

.


Which comes as no surprise. Anyway . . . .

"When it comes to basic knowledge about what different religions teach, Jews and atheists know more than every kind of Christian.



.​

Took the 15 question version, here are my results:

You answered 15 questions correctly.
Compare your score
The following graphs show how you did on these 15 questions (excerpted from the larger collection of 32 questions included in the report, “What Americans Know About Religion”) compared with a nationally representative sample of 10,971 adults. Your responses on the quiz do NOT affect the results of the nationally representative survey.
You
15/15

I'm Atheist.........

 

[Katzpur]

Not exactly:

Religious affiliation also remains a good predictor of religious knowledge in these models. Even after education, race and other factors are considered, it is still the case that atheists, Jews, agnostics and evangelical Protestants perform better than other religious groups on this survey. Compared with the national average, atheists get an additional 2.4 questions correct, Jews 2.3 questions, agnostics 1.7 questions and evangelicals 1.4 questions.

At the other end of the spectrum, members of the historically black Protestant tradition and those who say their religion is “nothing in particular” trail other groups even after demographic factors are taken into account. Mainline Protestants, Catholics and Mormons fall in the middle and more closely resemble the general public.
-source​

Mormons (according to this source) have a better knowledge of the Bible than any other group of Christians, including all Protestants and Catholics.

 

[Revoltingest]

This atheist knows next to nothing about religion.
Why bother, eh.