Religious Literacy (or not)

A few months back, a friend recommended Stephen Prothero's book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know-and Doesn't.

The book is based on the premise that American people, while professing great religiosity, are actually incredibly ignorant of the foundations and teachings of all religions, including Christianity. Prothero argues that such ignorance has a high social cost. He makes a case for "religious education", not in the sense of dogma or indoctrination, but as a tool for understanding the teachings, symbols and "scripts" that underlay various religious beliefs and may motivate people to action. It's a good book-somewhat heavy on the Judeo Christian, and lacking in other traditions, but well worth reading. If you are interested in learning more, click the title of this post to visit the author's website

Anyhow, there is a section in the book that gives examples of our ignorance and commonly held misconceptionsand I thought I would lighten up this afternoon by posting a few of Prothero's findings.

(figures are from what Prothero calls "scientific survey" and are footnoted, but I am not going to include sources here)

10% of Americans believe that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife.

Only 10% of American teenagers can name all five major world religions and 15% cannot name any.

Nearly two thirds of Americans believe that the Bible holds the answer to all or most of life's basic questions, yet only half of
American adults can name even one of the four Gospels and most Americans cannot name the first book of the Bible.

8% of teenager responding to a Gallup poll believed that Moses was one of the 12 apostles

When asked whether the Bible locates Jesus' birthplace as Jerusalem (it does not), 60% of evangelical Protestants and 51% of Jews answered yes.

In 1982, while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit was debating whether the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishnas) was a religion, they said that the Bhagavad Gita (a Hindu scripture) is ?as important in the Buddhist religions (sic) as the Bible is to Christians and Jews?.

Most Americans have difficulty distinguishing between Hinduism and Buddhism and only a tiny minority can name a single scripture from any Asian religion.

He also includes "unscientific" bloopers of the sort that circulate among teachers. Apocryphal, but funny, (in a somewhat sad way).

The epistles were the wives of the apostles.

Jesus enunciated the Golden Rule, which says do one to others before they do one to you. He also explained: Man does not live by sweat alone.

Moses led the Jews to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread, which is bread without any ingredients.

The Egyptians were all drowned in the desert. Afterwards, Moses went up Mount Cyanide to get the Ten Commandments.

Moses died before he ever reached Canada. Then Joshua led the Hebrews in the Battle of Geritol.

St. Paul cavorted to Christianity. He preached holy acrimony, which is another name for marriage.