Athiests and Agnostics Most Informed About Religion - New England Patriots Forums - PatsFans.com Patriots Fan Messageboard
NEWS
|
FORUM
|
PHOTOS
|
VIDEOS
|
FULL STATS DATABASE
|
PODCAST
|
RUMOR MILL
Get Social With PatsFans.com
Five Thoughts On Tebow
'13 NFL Previews Are In
Tebow at QB? No Way

Go Back   New England Patriots Forums - PatsFans.com Patriots Fan Messageboard > Off Topic Forums > Religion and Lighthearted Discussion
Forgot Password? Join PatsFans.com!
Register Blogs FAQ Members List Calendar Arcade Mark Forums Read Chat Room

WELCOME TO OUR FORUM HERE AT PATSFANS.COM!
ARE YOU NEW HERE? NOT LOGGED IN? PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO REGISTER FOR AN ACCOUNT AND LOGIN TO REMOVE THIS WINDOW

Welcome to PatsFans.com. Do you have an account? If not - please take a moment to register for our forum and experience a much smoother experience with fewer ads, along with no longer having to see this notification window. Also learn about how you can receive a free Patriots T-Shirt from the Patriots Official ProShop by CLICKING HERE. Please enjoy your stay here, and Go Pats!

Like Tree3Likes

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-28-2010, 09:58 AM   #1
All Pro Poster
 
Mrs.PatsFanInVa's Avatar
 

Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 12,372
My Mood: Amazed
Default Athiests and Agnostics Most Informed About Religion

If you want to know about God, you might want to talk to an atheist.

Heresy? Perhaps. But a survey that measured Americans' knowledge of religion 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."

A majority of Protestants, for instance, couldn't identify Martin Luther as the driving force behind the Protestant Reformation, according to the survey, released Tuesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Four in 10 Catholics misunderstood the meaning of their church's central ritual, incorrectly saying that the bread and wine used in Holy Communion are intended to merely symbolize the body and blood of Christ, not actually become them.

Atheists and agnostics — those who believe there is no God or who aren't sure — were more likely to answer the survey's questions correctly. Jews and Mormons ranked just below them in the survey's measurement of religious knowledge — so close as to be statistically tied.

So why would an atheist know more about religion than a Christian?

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.


Atheists, agnostics most knowledgeable about religion, survey says - latimes.com
Mrs.PatsFanInVa is offline   Reply With Quote
FEATURED ADVERTISEMENT
DONATE TO PATSFANS.COM
RECEIVE A FREE PATS T-SHIRT AND SAVE 15% OFF WHEN YOU BUY FROM THE OFFICIAL PROSHOP!

Free T-Shirt & Save 15% Off!
Like Our Site? Please help support our site and server costs by DONATING TO PATSFANS.COM and receive a FREE PATRIOTS T-SHIRT and SAVE 15% off EVERY purchase you make from PatriotsProShop.com. You'll also receive added benefits to your account
including Removing All Ads During Your Experience Here At Our Forum.

NEEDED YEARLY SITE DONATIONS: 345 | CURRENT # OF SUBSCRIBED SUPPORTERS: 98

Updated 07/08/11

Help Us Reach Our Goal!

Old 09-28-2010, 01:03 PM   #2
2nd Team Getting Their First Start
 
TBradyOwnsYou's Avatar
 

Join Date: May 2010
Location: North Dakota
Posts: 1,583
Default Re: Athiests and Agnostics Most Informed About Religion

Truthiness!
TBradyOwnsYou is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2010, 03:26 PM   #3
____Moderator____
 
IcyPatriot's Avatar
 

Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 31,966
Default Re: Athiests and Agnostics Most Informed About Religion



Catlicks were the bottom of the barrel ... what's up with that?
IcyPatriot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2010, 03:27 PM   #4
____Moderator____
 
IcyPatriot's Avatar
 

Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 31,966
Default Re: Athiests and Agnostics Most Informed About Religion


IcyPatriot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2010, 03:52 PM   #5
2nd Team Getting Their First Start
 
TBradyOwnsYou's Avatar
 

Join Date: May 2010
Location: North Dakota
Posts: 1,583
Default Re: Athiests and Agnostics Most Informed About Religion

Quote:
Originally Posted by IcyPatriot View Post

3 I didn't know:
Indonesia, Jon Edwards, Maimonides.
TBradyOwnsYou is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2010, 04:20 PM   #6
All Pro Poster
 
Mrs.PatsFanInVa's Avatar
 

Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 12,372
My Mood: Amazed
Default Re: Athiests and Agnostics Most Informed About Religion

I found it an interesting study (if "study" is the right word.) I also think I agree with their conclusion that athiests and agnostics spent some time and energy reading and researching various religions in an attempt to prove or disprove something to themselves, if to no one else.

It makes sense that people know the most about their own religion - but little about anyone else's. If they are really true believers, why bother? I'm sure they all assume that since they're right - everyone else is wrong.

Having been raised a Catholic in an Irish/Polish enclave on the South Side of Chicago, I didn't even KNOW there were other religions until I was in my teens.

The more I read and learned about various other religions,the more I realized they all preached basically the same things with only small variations for the most part. And very few of them actually practiced what they preached. (Just a personal generalized observation and I know several people who don't fall into this catagory.)

It seems to be a good study and it seems to show that there's a need for interfaith education. Maybe people of all faiths would respect one another more if they actually knew how much they have in common.
Mrs.PatsFanInVa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2010, 06:22 PM   #7
____Moderator____
 
IcyPatriot's Avatar
 

Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 31,966
Default Re: Athiests and Agnostics Most Informed About Religion

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mrs.PatsFanInVa View Post
I

It seems to be a good study and it seems to show that there's a need for interfaith education. Maybe people of all faiths would respect one another more if they actually knew how much they have in common.
I have said a few times in the PoFo that there should be a course teaching the basic concepts of religions in public schools. I think it would go a long way in making people more aware and sensitive to all
people who are different from themselves.

they teach US history and world history and they should incorporate some religion history into both of those.

They proved this in the Middle East where they had a class of Muslim and Jewish kids who all came to the realization they were a bit different but mostly the same.
IcyPatriot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2010, 07:16 PM   #8
All Pro Poster
 
Mrs.PatsFanInVa's Avatar
 

Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 12,372
My Mood: Amazed
Default Re: Athiests and Agnostics Most Informed About Religion

Quote:
Originally Posted by IcyPatriot View Post
they teach US history and world history and they should incorporate some religion history into both of those.

They proved this in the Middle East where they had a class of Muslim and Jewish kids who all came to the realization they were a bit different but mostly the same.
Yes, I agree.

I find different religions fascinating and I love learning about them. When my old boss's father died, MrP and I went to the wake. It was a Buddhist wake and, while I felt fairly out of place, not knowing the proper things to do, they talked us through it and it was a most beautiful concept and experience. Different kinds of incense sticks and ways of bowing and each meant something special.

There was also an experiment (if that's even the right word) some years back where they moved Palestinans and Jews into one neighborhood - next door to one another, and within weeks everyone was friends. It's very hard to hate your neighbor - you might need to borrow a cup of sugar someday, your kids play together, he works on cars, your battery's dead, etc., etc.

Knowing things is never a bad idea. And, like I mentioned earlier, most religions are not all that far apart. Every single religion I know of follows some version of the Golden Rule - if everyone would leave it at that we'd all be better off.
Mrs.PatsFanInVa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-28-2010, 10:08 PM   #9
Banned
 

Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Gillete Stadium
Posts: 862
My Mood: Happy
Default Re: Athiests and Agnostics Most Informed About Religion

Those who live on hope should expect starvation.




Organized Religion = BS
WhiteWesWelker88 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-29-2010, 01:00 PM   #10
In the Starting Line-up
 
everlong's Avatar
 

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Marshfield
Posts: 3,831
Blog Entries: 1
My Mood: Dead
Send a message via Yahoo to everlong
Default Re: Athiests and Agnostics Most Informed About Religion

Quote:
Originally Posted by IcyPatriot View Post
They proved this in the Middle East where they had a class of Muslim and Jewish kids who all came to the realization they were a bit different but mostly the same.
If you believe the bible and Qur'an are at least somewhat historically accurate then the Muslims and Jews and therefore Christians are actually all cousins originating from the sons of Abraham with the descendants of Isaac following the Jewish heritage and the sons of Ishmael the Islamic heritage.

Isaac or Ishmael

The versions of how things went down are predictably different in the bible and Qur'an but a lot of the details are the same.
__________________
"When Peyton Manning was a kid he used to go to bed at night and dream about throwing the winning touchdown for the Saints in the Superbowl. And on Sunday he did."

There's only two conclusions for Patriots fans on rookies. They are either a bust or being fitted for their bust in Canton.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
everlong is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Sponsored Links



Thread Tools
Display Modes


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Atheists'/agnostics' thread gomezcat Religion and Lighthearted Discussion 38 04-24-2012 11:34 AM
Religion Harry Boy Political Discussion 7 09-04-2010 10:31 AM
Religion Again Harry Boy Political Discussion 11 07-24-2010 09:12 PM
Religion Harry Boy Political Discussion 0 05-23-2009 10:50 AM
New Religion HAMMERMILL Religion and Lighthearted Discussion 18 03-04-2007 10:09 PM



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:17 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2013, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2

© Copyright 2000-2012. PatsFans.com Is a Partner of USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties.
The opinions posted in this forum do not necessarily reflect the opinions of our staff at PatsFans.com or USA Today.
We are not affiliated with the New England Patriots™ or the NFL™. The Photo Used In the header was taken by Ian Logue.

This site is owned and operated by I&K Internet Design Enterprises, LLC


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566