Up For A Quiz?
A new Pew study has revealed that (surprise! surprise!) Americans know little about religion. (Add that subject to the list of remedial courses we all need in history, geography, and math.)
Anyway, the interesting part, for me, was the breakdown of religious knowledge by denomination:
On questions about Christianity – including a battery of questions about the Bible – Mormons (7.9 out of 12 right on average) and white evangelical Protestants (7.3 correct on average) show the highest levels of knowledge. Jews and atheists/agnostics stand out for their knowledge of other world religions, including Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism; out of 11 such questions on the survey, Jews answer 7.9 correctly (nearly three better than the national average) and atheists/agnostics answer 7.5 correctly (2.5 better than the national average). Atheists/agnostics and Jews also do particularly well on questions about the role of religion in public life, including a question about what the U.S. Constitution says about religion.
Here's a sample 15-question quiz. How do you do?
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Re: Up For A Quiz?
I got to question eight and then received this message: "We are experiencing technical difficulties and are working to resolve them. Please try again soon." Perhaps that was a divine chastisement for my sin of pride, because I was thrilled that I knew the answers to the first questions handily and was really excited about my expected perfect score. Now that I think about it, gloating about that would have been a bit ... not in the spirit of things.
Sep '10
Re: Up For A Quiz?
I think the site fainted at the thought of a bunch of Ricochet readers taking the quiz.
"The connection has timed out"
:-)
Re: Up For A Quiz?
Argh. Same thing happened to me, but I only got to question 5. The only consoling thought for me is that SO many people are reading Ricochet that the Pew Center can't even handle the traffic we send their way.
May '10
Re: Up For A Quiz?
I made it only to four. So far they are very easy questions.
I'm glad Pew is publicly making the point that religious knowledge is knowledge. Ignorance of it is ignorance--which is not a good thing.
May '10
Re: Up For A Quiz?
We fried its tiny little brain. Of course, this is what happens when you put up a big impressive name in front of your think tank, when in reality it consists of maybe three people in two cubicles.
I'm sort of interested to hear how Catholics fared. A lot of conservatives are Catholic converts, and converts are the most fervent advocates of anything. And, it should go without saying, this is an internet survey, and thus not representive of any but the most enthusiastic. Who appear to be melting the phones.
Re: Up For A Quiz?
Sorry, folks. That's frustrating. I've been having computer problems all week, related (I think) to *my* computer, so I didn't think it was a universal thing. Sorry to send you all there.
I agree, Katie, the questions were easy (as far as I got, at least) AND I agree that it's nice to see religion -- of all kinds -- being acknowledged as a body of worthwhile information rather than hocus-pocus.
Re: Up For A Quiz?
Kennedy, it's interesting that you ask that. Catholics fared sort of poorly! I wish I could check it, but I think only 45% of Catholics surveyed knew that a basic tenet of the faith (and the whole focus of mass) is transubstantiation. Also, on general facts, Catholics were on the low end of the scores. This LA Times piece has a pretty good summary of it, until we can get on Pew. I think their Catholic figure is off, however. Anyway, I'll check back with Pew later. Gotta get the kids moving.
Jun '10
Re: Up For A Quiz?
Ursula Hennessey
Kennedy, it's interesting that you ask that. Catholics fared sort of poorly! I wish I could check it, but I think only 45% of Catholics surveyed knew that a basic tenet of the faith (and the whole focus of mass) is transubstantiation.
I would be interested to see how Catholics who go to mass once or twice a year fared against Catholics who go to mass once a week (or once a day!). The rift would be large I imagine.
Aug '10
Re: Up For A Quiz?
it's working now, though not to my satisfaction as it only scored me with 87% corrrect. it mistook my opinions as a matter of faith !! damnable racist machines !
and who is this Pepe le Pew ?
Re: Up For A Quiz?
I agree, Samwise. However, it's always a trick to figure out just how Jewish a self-described Jewish person is or how Catholic a self-described Catholic person is, isn't it? I'm assuming the Pew folks are allowing people to claim their own faith.
Do you think that regular attendance at synagogue/mosque/church/mass is directly related to knowledge about religion (one's own and others), or do you think that only works for Catholics? I have no idea. I'm Catholic myself and would be one of the first to acknowledge my own lack of some basic knowledge. However, I get the feeling that people who describe themselves as Jewish or Muslim probably are, more often than not, not regular mosque/synagogue attendees, yet still know more general religious knowledge than Catholics. Just a hunch, and I could be wrong, but I wonder why that's the case.....
Re: Up For A Quiz?
I took the test last night. The questions were extremely easy so i was disappointed that other people didn't get them all right. Even if I am a religion reporter, this was basic stuff.
But Samwise Gamgee nails the issue -- I'm much more concerned if a weekly worshiper is missing questions than if someone who thinks his mom was (insert random religion) and so he self-identifies the same.
May '10
Re: Up For A Quiz?
I doubt there's a strong correlation between mass attendance theological knowledge, though there's almost certainly some correlation. There are a lot of people who worship on holy days and forget about God entirely the rest of the time. There are also a lot of people who pray silently throughout every day and yet never devote time to learning. There are as many ways to be ignorant as there are to be knowledgeable.
I can often remember particular moments from The Bible, but I can never remember verse locations and don't always remember the exact words. Some people have minds for facts and figures. My dad can remember the dates of the councils and all the history that surrounds the Church's growth. I have a mind for concepts, which means my historical memories are usually pretty vague.
Jun '10
Re: Up For A Quiz?
Well, I got to question 4 before losing the connection, but the quiz seemed rather elementary. Try these instead from an actual test given my Mr. Paules to his 9th graders:
1. Why is reading the Koran not a Pillar of Islam?
2. Name three things that Christians, Jews and Muslims share in common.
3. Sikhism is a blend of what two religions?
4. What does a Taoist do when he falls in a river?
5. In what religion would you find a deity named Ahura-Mazda?
6. Name the three deities of the Hindu religion who represent creation, preservation, and destruction.
7. Translate "mahatma" from its Sanskrit root words.
8. What is the aboriginal religion of Japan?
9. What are the two branches of Buddhism?
10. Why did the Church of England secede from the Roman Catholic faith.
11. Translate Jesus into Hebrew.
12. How many Buddhists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
13. Name one of the mystic sects of Islam.
14. Name the four religions that each hold a quarter of Old Jerusalem.
15. Who was the protestant leader who preached the doctrine of predestination from his headquarters in Switzerland?
Answers later this afternoon.
Re: Up For A Quiz?
Okay, Paules, I'll embarrass myself. Here are some attempts/guesses:
2. Holy Land, monotheism, belief in Jesus as (at least) a prophet?
3. Hindu and Buddhism?
4. Go with the flow.
8. Shinto?
10. Because King Louis XVCYVSAD (?) wanted a divorce.
11. Yahweh
15. John Calvin
Edited on Sep 28, 2010 at 8:15amRe: Up For A Quiz?
BTW the "edit" was to add Paules's name. I'm impressed that you are teaching this stuff, Paules.
May '10
Re: Up For A Quiz?
Cause five pillars are enough trouble, Abraham, Hinduism and Islam, he goes with the flow, Zoroastrianism, Vishnu Vishnu and Vishnu, "bald dude in a diaper", Shinto, The one branch and the other branch (one has bunches of gods, the other is Zen), Henry VIII wanted a divorce, oy gevalt, pass, Sufism (and the dervishes), catholicism orthodoxy islam and judaism, Calvin?
May '10
Re: Up For A Quiz?
A quibble with the quiz:
Job is known for remaining faithful, not "obedient", despite suffering.
May '10
Re: Up For A Quiz?
I'll take a stab at a few, Paules.
1. Because all of Islam is contained in the Koran
2. 1) One God; 2) Holy book; 3) Abraham as Father of the Faith
10. Because the Pope refused to allow Henry VIII to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Bolyn.
11. Y'sua
15. John Calvin
Jul '10
Re: Up For A Quiz?
First up, someone needs to take their webmaster to the woodshed.
One Page One Question is a Bandwidth HOG!
Even if the questions are random, put all 15 (for crying out loud, even 5 to a page) questions on one page, then have a submission of the answers.
The one question one page is just a flat out plan for disaster. You are creating 15 opportunities for something to go wrong vs 1 or 3. Mind you this is compounded for each individual who is connected and attempting the quiz.
The farthest I can get before full meltdown is 5 and it is very annoying.
My opinion of Pew Research has just went down the toilet if they cannot hire better web designers than that!
Aug '10
Re: Up For A Quiz?
Made it to #9 before i just got fed up waiting for the next question. But up to that point they were all a breeze.