"Atheists and Agnostics Know More about Religion than Religious Do!"

On a Recent Knowledge and Understanding of Religion Survey Atheists and Agnostics Scored the Highest!

And Interestingly Enough, U.S. Catholics Scored the Lowest!

Finally I Have Proof!  This study from The Pew Research Center verifies what I've always known to be true.  Most religious people are clueless as to what their faith officially believes in.  It's always been the only plausible explanation to me as to how, or why people continue to practice and/or supposedly believe in their respective faiths. 

Take Catholics, for example...

According to the  Survey  more than five-in-ten Catholics in the United States do not realize that their church teaches the bread and wine used in Communion do not merely symbolize but literally become the body and blood of Christ when the priest blesses them. Catholic dogma calls this the Transubstantiation, and I have  Blogged  about it in the past.  Most Catholics don't even know this, but 87% of Atheists surveyed did!

The Protestants didn't do much better...

53% cannot even correctly identify  Martin Luther  as the person whose writings and actions inspired the Protestant Reformation, which is what made their religions possible in the first place.

Now let's look at the Jews...

Moses Maimonides a/k/a Rambam

While generally speaking Jews fared a bit better in the survey, still however more than four-in-ten (43%) did not recognize the name or image of  Maimonides  or Rambam as he sometimes called, even though he is one of the Most Preeminent, Respected and Venerated Rabbis in the History of Judaism.  And his fourteen-volume  Mishneh Torah  first published in the twelfth century, still carries canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic Law

This however was no surprise to me.  I've had many Jewish friends over the years and while their knowledge of Yiddish vocabulary and expressions may have far surpassed mine their understanding of Jewish teachings and theTalmud usually did not. 

Although in fairness it should be noted that most of the friends I speak of were not particularly religious or observant Jews.  But we're rather Jewish more by heritage and tradition than anything else.  My two Orthodox friends (you know who you are) would be the obvious exceptions.


The study also revealed that most religious people know even less about religions outside of their own.  Surprisingly few people know that the  Dalai Lama  is a Buddhist, Martin Luther inspired the Reformation, or that  Joseph Smith  founded the Mormons.  Most Atheists however, were very knowledgeable about all of these facts. 
 
This obviously begs the question, why are Agnostics and Atheists so much better informed?
 
One of the Pew researchers presents the following theory...

"American atheists and agnostics tend to be people who grew up in a religious tradition and consciously gave it up, often after a great deal of reflection and study" said Alan Cooperman, associate director for research at the Pew Forum.

"These are people who thought a lot about religion," he said. "They're not indifferent. They care about it."

So, as Mitchell Landsberg of the Los Angeles Times explains  "If you want to know about God, you might want to talk to an Atheist."

Heresy? He asks? Perhaps, he explains. "But the survey found that Atheists and Agnostics knew more, on average, than followers of most major faiths. In fact, the gaps in knowledge among some of the faithful may give new meaning to the term "Blind Faith." 

I certainly couldn't have said it better myself.
 
Also interesting is that some of the most fervent believers such as Black Protestants and Latino Catholics scored at the bottom of this survey.

Every time I see someone with a Bible.  I have to ask myself, Have They Ever Actually Read That Book? !!

And if they have.  Why would anyone want to follow a God like that? 

The God of the Bible (The God of Abraham)  is, whether they know it or not, the God of every Christian Muslim and Jew!  And, He's a Mean, Ornery, Vicious, Vindictive, Spiteful, Self-Centered, Egomaniacal Son of a Bitch!

If you don't believe that, or you think that's some kind of blasphemy. 

Then You Have Obviously Never Read the Book!


Agnostic Thinking... Please feel free to comment below, ( just click on the word comments if the panel is not open) or you can e-mail me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted. And don't forget to check out my original blog   Just Thinking