# Atheists know more about religion (Pew) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 28, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364 "2010-09-28T16:31:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/81 "2010-09-29T13:39:10Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > > [@Lanzy](#): > > > > This was fun, not one of my extended holier than thou family on Facebook got better than 50%. I (who am bound for hell according to them) got 100%. > > Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me. Not because religious people are inherently ignorant, but because certain groups of Christians (based on your phrasing, I’m assuming your extended family members are Christian; apologies if I’m incorrect) believe that other faiths are the devil’s work and therefore not worth studying. For instance, why learn about Hinduism or Buddhism anyway, when they’re heathen devil-worshippers anyway? If you meditate (which is what I hear Buddhists do!) it allows demons to enter your body and turn you away from the Lord! > > (This is actually the plot of the Christian novel _Piercing the Darkness_, by Frank Peretti: a town has to fight against little anthropomorphic demons that enter people’s bodies through meditation, which has been introduced to children by their teacher who has been influenced by ~exotic Eastern ways~.) Oh Yeah, They are most definitely christian. Bible thumping, in your face, screaming the devil out of you christians. and you are most likely correct, learning about the “enemy” would seem pointless to them. I had to go through the whole gamut of experiences trying to find the “truth”, finally found it. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/82 "2010-09-29T13:44:13Z")
I got 14/15. I missed the great awakening question. I knew it was not Billy Graham so I took a shot and picked the wrong one of the other two. That’s what usually happens to me on test questions where I have a 50/50 shot so I figure I’m keeping up my own record there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/83 "2010-09-29T13:51:16Z")
15 out of 15. Currently Wiccan with some Buddhist and Hindu exposure, raised Presbyterian in the Bible Belt. And I’m not surprised with the overall results - a lot of the people back home seem to be the “I’m Christian, you’re not, you suck, what does the Bible say?” type. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/84 "2010-09-29T13:59:06Z")
Untied Methodist, believer, 14/15. Missed the First Great Awakening question because I’ve never heard of it…must have dozed off during that Sunday School class. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/85 "2010-09-29T16:04:06Z")
15 of 15, I am a believer. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/86 "2010-09-29T16:13:09Z")
By the way, I (a Christian) got 15/15. I knew the Great Awakening one; the ones I had to keep my fingers crossed on were the Supreme Court questions. I knew what the answers _ought_ to be; I just didn’t recall hearing about the actual rulings. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/87 "2010-09-29T16:21:55Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I had to take one guess, because I was inclined to think that BOTH Hinduism and Buddhism had a concept of Nirvana. But the definition given (a state above and beyond all pain and suffering) sounded more Buddhist. Agreed. I responded based on what I assumed was the answer they expected. I strongly suspect the writer of the question never suspected that Hinduism and Nirvana might have anything to do with one another. Otherwise, it comes down to the question of whose concept of Nirvana, of two very similar concepts, more closely matches the description given. And there are no other questions on the quiz that come anywhere close to being that difficult. I’ve probably said it before, but I’ll say it again. The validity of a test breaks down when the people taking the test are smarter than the people who wrote it. See Wikipedia on [Nirvana in Hinduism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana#Nirvana_in_Hinduism). ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/88 "2010-09-29T16:26:50Z")
Although Hinduism has similar notions of enlightenment, the word “Nirvana” is specifically Buddhist. The word was coined by Buddha. ---
**Author:** ![\_mostly\_Harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/9d8465/32.png) [@\_mostly\_Harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_mostly_Harmless)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/89 "2010-09-30T00:11:59Z")
First off 32/32. Christian Agnostic (yes that _is_ possible). Secondly I respectfully disagree with: > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I think the way of inertia is for religious believers simply to blow off whatever they want to blow off, not for them to become atheists. It’s a complete canard that any significant number of people become atheists because they don’t want to follow the moral dicates of religion. Religion is filled with ostensible believers who never bother to actually do anything about it. I think it’s ridiculous to suggest that there’s any mental process which involves people saying, “I don’t wish to abstain from pre-marital sex, therefore I will choose to no longer believe in God.” That’s absurd. Belief or non-belief is not a matter of volition. I have partaken in that very mental process. Granted the premises are shallow and the process itself takes some cajoling but there is certainly a process. I would also have to say that belief (or the lack thereof) is most certainly a matter of volition. Now I am willing to admit that I am not among the smartest men who have ever lived but after reaching the limits of my ability to establish whether or not logic alone could definitively state the existence or non-existence of God, I came to the conclusion that in the absence of logic all that remains to resolve the question is choice. I certainly wish it was some other way but here we are. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/90 "2010-09-30T01:03:29Z")
It is not possible to choose to believe or not believe something. Belief is a dependent variable. You are eirther persuaded or not persuaded. Can you make yourself believe in the Easter Bunny? Really, sincerely believe it? ---
**Author:** ![\_mostly\_Harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/9d8465/32.png) [@\_mostly\_Harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_mostly_Harmless)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/91 "2010-09-30T01:25:14Z")
You make a good point about persuasion but I have to qualify that by saying that the reason I could not choose to really truly believe in the Easter Bunny is because I saw who put the eggs in the bushes. I didn’t see the creation of the universe so I have no way of evaluating whether God did it or not. I understand that that very point is probably among your very reasons for not believing. All I can say is that I know what I know but I don’t **know** what I **don’t** know. Could be one way, could be the other. At different points I’ve chosen both. Currently I’m choosing to believe. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/92 "2010-09-30T01:52:53Z")
How about Zeus? Could you choose to believe in Zeus? There isn’t a bit of evidence that Zeus doesn’t exist? Or smurfs either. Could you choose to believe that smurfs exist? Nobody can prove they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![\_mostly\_Harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/9d8465/32.png) [@\_mostly\_Harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_mostly_Harmless)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/93 "2010-09-30T01:55:32Z")
It would certainly be a lot easier than the Easter bunny. Although in all honesty I’ll admit it’s not likely. Anyway I don’t want to hijak this thread so we can have this debate in a more appropriate one later. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/94 "2010-09-30T03:44:23Z")
Is there a link to the longer quiz, or do you just have to try not to look at the answers? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/95 "2010-09-30T04:20:38Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It is not possible to choose to believe or not believe something. Belief is a dependent variable. You are eirther persuaded or not persuaded. I don’t believe 😛 it’s as simple as that. You sometimes hear someone say, “I refuse to believe …” and I think it’s not just a figure of speech: there is an element of volition involved. One can choose to entertain, or refuse to entertain, an idea in one’s mind. One can choose, at least to some extent, whether or not to subject one’s beliefs to challenge or testing of some sort. One can choose to act/live as if one believes (or disbelieves) something—and the action tends to reinforce the belief (or disbelief). ---
**Author:** ![meenie7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@meenie7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meenie7)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/96 "2010-09-30T04:35:21Z")
I got 15/15, and it was very easy for me, but then again I have always been interested in reading about various religions. I was raised non-religious, was a strong atheist for about 10 years, and am now a Mormon. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/97 "2010-09-30T04:56:03Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Is there a link to the longer quiz, or do you just have to try not to look at the answers? [http://pewforum.org/U-S-Religious-Knowledge-Survey-Who-Knows-What-About-Religion.aspx](http://pewforum.org/U-S-Religious-Knowledge-Survey-Who-Knows-What-About-Religion.aspx) > [@](#): > > Pew Forum Religious Knowledge Questions > > Questions below have been paraphrased for brevity; most response options were rotated. See topline survey results (Appendix B) for exact wording and question order. > > Bible > What is the first book of the Bible? (Open-ended) > What are the names of the first four books of the New Testament, that is, the four Gospels? (Open-ended) > Where, according to the Bible, was Jesus born? Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth or Jericho? > Which of these is NOT in the Ten Commandments? Do unto others…, no adultery, no stealing, keep Sabbath? > Which figure is associated with remaining obedient to God despite suffering? Job, Elijah, Moses or Abraham? > Which figure is associated with leading the exodus from Egypt? Moses, Job, Elijah or Abraham? > Which figure is associated with willingness to sacrifice his son for God? Abraham, Job, Moses or Elijah? > > Elements of Christianity > What is Catholic teaching about bread and wine in Communion? They become body and blood, or are symbols? > Which group traditionally teaches that salvation is through faith alone? Protestants, Catholics, both or neither? > Was Mother Teresa Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu or Mormon? > What is the name of the person whose writings and actions inspired the Reformation? Luther, Aquinas or Wesley? > Who was a preacher during the First Great Awakening? Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney or Billy Graham? > > Elements of Judaism > When does the Jewish Sabbath begin? Friday, Saturday or Sunday? > Was Maimonides Jewish, Catholic, Buddhist, Hindu or Mormon? > > Elements of Mormonism > When was the Mormon religion founded? After 1800, between 1200 and 1800, or before 1200 A.D.? > The Book of Mormon tells of Jesus appearing to people in what area? The Americas, Middle East or Asia? > Was Joseph Smith Mormon, Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist or Hindu? > > World Religions > Is Ramadan the Islamic holy month, the Hindu festival of lights or a Jewish day of atonement? > Do you happen to know the name of the holy book of Islam? (Open-ended) > Which religion aims at nirvana, the state of being free from suffering? Buddhism, Hinduism or Islam? > Is the Dalai Lama Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Catholic or Mormon? > In which religion are Vishnu and Shiva central figures? Hinduism, Islam or Taoism? > What is the religion of most people in India? Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim or Christian? > What is the religion of most people in Pakistan? Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Christian? > What is the religion of most people in Indonesia? Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Christian? > Who is the king of Gods in Greek mythology? Zeus, Mars or Apollo? > > Atheism and Agnosticism > Is an atheist someone who does NOT believe in God, believes in God, or is unsure whether God exists? > Is an agnostic someone who is unsure whether God exists, does NOT believe in God, or believes in God? > > Religion in Public Life > What does Constitution say about religion? Separation of church and state, emphasize Christianity, or nothing? > According to the Supreme Court, can a public school teacher lead a class in prayer? > According to the Supreme Court, can a public school teacher read from the Bible as an example of literature? > According to the Supreme Court, can a public school teacher offer a class comparing the world’s religions? ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/98 "2010-09-30T15:29:27Z")
Athiest- 15/15. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/99 "2010-09-30T16:19:08Z")
Athiest, 11 out of 15. Bad me. Picked Saturday for the Sabbath, ooops. Also do not have any idea what the Great Awakening is, except that Billy Graham is too young for it. I grew up where it was Catholic, only Catholic, and anything else was not discussed. The one I was wrong on that I haven’t seen much discussion about in the thread was the ‘Can a public school teacher lead a class in prayer?’. I selected ‘Yes’. I come from one of the most conservative parts of Canada and we had prayer in public school until 1993, IIRC. I thought that the US, being more conservative, would still allow it. Also, being from the flavour of Catholicism that never actually read the Bible much, I thought Abraham led the Exodus. Hurp de derp. I know Moses parted the sea, but I never gave much thought to whether or not he led the people once they got through the sea, lol. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364/100 "2010-09-30T16:53:10Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > The one I was wrong on that I haven’t seen much discussion about in the thread was the ‘Can a public school teacher lead a class in prayer?’. I selected ‘Yes’. I come from one of the most conservative parts of Canada and we had prayer in public school until 1993, IIRC. I thought that the US, being more conservative, would still allow it. On the one hand, the US is in some ways more conservative and more religious than other countries like Canada and England. On the other hand, the US does not have, has never had, and constitutionally forbids a state-sponsored religion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-know-more-about-religion-pew/555364.md?page=6)