# How much does the average American know about non-Christian religions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 13, 2008, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422 "2008-09-13T10:21:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SomeBodyUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SomeBodyUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeBodyUK)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/1 "2008-09-13T10:21:54Z")
I’m a British guy in California. A week ago, a pastor approached me in the street, and said I should be a Christian cos “other religions are incorrect and Jesus is the the true path to salvation”. I asked him a few questions about other religions such as Buddhism and Islam. It turned out that he knew almost nothing about them. Is this unusual? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/2 "2008-09-13T12:07:36Z")
> [@SomeBodyUK](#): > > I’m a British guy in California. A week ago, a pastor approached me in the street, and said I should be a Christian cos “other religions are incorrect and Jesus is the the true path to salvation”. I asked him a few questions about other religions such as Buddhism and Islam. It turned out that he knew almost nothing about them. > > Is this unusual? Alas, no. Even more alas- a lot of Americans, mostly Christian, don’t know much about their own religion. And I’ve also found this true among Jewish and Wiccan Americans. They may know more overall than Christians do, because of Jewish household emphasis and that it takes deliberate effort to be a Wiccan, but many of them still lack what I’d consider basic knowledge of their faiths. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/3 "2008-09-13T12:19:17Z")
Sadly one of the Vice-Presidential nominees is a Creationist who doesn’t know the difference between evolution and abiogenesis. :eek::smack: ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/4 "2008-09-13T13:00:19Z")
I image a lot of Jewish people on this board know a lot about Judaism, like the fact that they cannot post on the Sabbath.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/5 "2008-09-13T13:38:02Z")
You might want to take a look at the book _Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know – and Doesn’t_ by Stephen Prothero. It’s a careful examination of how little Americans know about religious matters on average, even those who claim to be religious themselves. It examines why this is now true despite the fact that in, say, the nineteenth century most Americans were more knowledgeable about such matters. It finishes with a long section summarizing the sorts of knowledge Americans ought to have to be “religiously literate.” ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/6 "2008-09-13T14:40:04Z")
Sigh…in college, I took a summer class in Eastern religions at a local Jesuit university. One of the other students raised her hand during the discussion on Buddhism and, in all seriousness, asked the professor “so why _don’t_ Buddhists believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost?” (I don’t have any idea what her religious background was, but the school - Loyola U. of Chicago - certainly doesn’t have a 100% Catholic student body.) ---
**Author:** ![A\_shameful\_cracka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@A\_shameful\_cracka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_shameful_cracka)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/7 "2008-09-13T14:52:34Z")
What I think is interesting is that Christians in America probably know more about Islam than any other non-Christian religion since 9/11, because it’s been in the news so much and a lot of people have gone on the internet and read about it themselves. This has led to an actual increase in conversions to Islam since 2001. ---
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/8 "2008-09-13T15:04:21Z")
> [@A\_shameful\_cracka](#): > > What I think is interesting is that Christians in America probably know more about Islam than any other non-Christian religion since 9/11, because it’s been in the news so much and a lot of people have gone on the internet and read about it themselves. This has led to an actual increase in conversions to Islam since 2001. Can you find a legitimate cite for that? Not doubting you, but every website I went to was based on a local cleric stating conversions have increased, a news article saying that same thing but no actual facts. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/9 "2008-09-13T15:09:20Z")
> [@A\_shameful\_cracka](#): > > What I think is interesting is that Christians in America probably know more about Islam than any other non-Christian religion since 9/11, because it’s been in the news so much and a lot of people have gone on the internet and read about it themselves. This has led to an actual increase in conversions to Islam since 2001. Based on posts I’ve read elsewhere, Christian Americans think they know about Islam. Their ‘knowledge’ is along the lines of ‘Allah commands that all Muslims kill non-Muslims’ and ‘The Koran says it’s OK to lie in order to assure Islamic victories. So when Obama says’ he’s not a Muslim, he’s lying.’ That sort of thing. ---
**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 13, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/10 "2008-09-13T15:11:41Z")
I know a lot, but I’m atypical. A lot of nominal American Christians don’t even know their _own_ religion that well. ---
**Author:** ![A\_shameful\_cracka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@A\_shameful\_cracka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_shameful_cracka)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/11 "2008-09-13T15:18:15Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Based on posts I’ve read elsewhere, Christian Americans think they know about Islam. Their ‘knowledge’ is along the lines of ‘Allah commands that all Muslims kill non-Muslims’ and ‘The Koran says it’s OK to lie in order to assure Islamic victories. So when Obama says’ he’s not a Muslim, he’s lying.’ That sort of thing. Some are like that, but a lot (like myself) have learned a lot about Islam because of 9/11. Hardly any Christians other than people who had studied religion knew that Islam revered Jesus before 9/11, and a lot of people know that now. I personally knew they revered Jesus prior to 9/11 (just because of a science fiction book I read set in a predominately Muslim world), but I never was interested enough until later to find out that they consider him the Messiah and that they also believe in the virgin birth. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/12 "2008-09-13T15:34:22Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > You might want to take a look at the book _Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know – and Doesn’t_ by Stephen Prothero. It’s a careful examination of how little Americans know about religious matters on average, even those who claim to be religious themselves. It examines why this is now true despite the fact that in, say, the nineteenth century most Americans were more knowledgeable about such matters. It finishes with a long section summarizing the sorts of knowledge Americans ought to have to be “religiously literate.” Hah, I just read this book, and I enjoyed it a lot, because he was saying everything I already thought. It’s nice when someone agrees with me. 😃 IMO people isn’t properly educated or ready to act as citizens until they know _at least_ the basics about the major religions in the world. Sadly, Americans rarely know all that much about their own religions, much less someone else’s. Someone commented in the Protestantism thread in GQ that denominational differences were originally based on doctrinal disagreements that were considered vitally important at the time, but a majority of modern Protestants don’t understand or care about those differences now–they often have a much shallower understanding of their own church’s beliefs. (Except, IME, converts to Reformed churches.) Not to leave anyone out, the same is often true of Catholics, who no longer get intensive training in Catholic doctrine. It is unfortunately very easy to _think_ that you know about another religion’s beliefs, when in fact you are sadly ignorant. I’ve had my ignorance fought many times here on, for example, Catholic points of doctrine that I did not understand at all. ---
**Author:** ![SomeBodyUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SomeBodyUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeBodyUK)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/13 "2008-09-13T18:55:39Z")
In UK, at school we had a class called Religious Education, and we were taught about Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity and Sikhism. Don’t American schools mention other faiths? ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/14 "2008-09-13T19:06:55Z")
Er, well, sometimes. See, we have this thing called separation of church and state, which means you can’t preach religion in schools. Far too many people take that to mean that you can’t teach about religion in schools at all; many teachers are nervous about even mentioning such a thing, even though the courts have ruled that such classes would be fine. Teachers are often misinformed on this point. One problem is that religion is such a sensitive topic in the US that it would, in fact, be fairly difficult to have a Bible Literacy 101 or World Religions course in many schools. Many parents would be upset at the mention of religion at all; others would only want their version taught. The idea of teaching the Bible as literature/history/law/culture and not teaching it as revealed truth would be anathema to some. Others would be frightened at the possibility that the teacher _would_ teach the Bible as truth, to the point that they prefer no mention at all. The result is that history and culture tend, in the US, to be taught with the religion left out. It varies with every school, I suppose, and some do it well, but you also get textbooks that say the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians, and that do their very very best to never mention anything about religion. This gives many students a very skewed image of the past. Personally I would love to see these courses taught. But that’s a big reason why I opted out of the public school system; I want my kids to learn history with the religion left in. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/15 "2008-09-13T19:16:07Z")
> [@SomeBodyUK](#): > > In UK, at school we had a class called Religious Education, and we were taught about Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity and Sikhism. I’d also add that I would bet that a huge number of Americans have never heard of Sikhism at all, unless they are personally acquainted with them. Sikhs are frequently mistaken for Muslims. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/16 "2008-09-13T19:25:37Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > Er, well, sometimes. See, we have this thing called separation of church and state, which means you can’t preach religion in schools. Far too many people take that to mean that you can’t teach about religion in schools at all; many teachers are nervous about even mentioning such a thing, even though the courts have ruled that such classes would be fine. Teachers are often misinformed on this point. When I was in high school in New York in the late 90s, “World Religions” was a required part of the curriculum. I’m sure it varies from state to state, but I’d be shocked if a school never taught anything about religion. ---
**Author:** ![SomeBodyUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SomeBodyUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeBodyUK)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/17 "2008-09-13T19:40:23Z")
We never had separation of church and state in UK. We sang hymns and prayed daily in my school, ands it was a standard government school. ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/18 "2008-09-13T21:15:32Z")
I’m an atheist American who knows a shitload about christian and non-christian religions. We learned about Islam a little bit in high school. Most of what I know has come from taking college courses about various religions to satisfy my own curiosity though. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/19 "2008-09-13T21:31:07Z")
> [@SomeBodyUK](#): > > We never had separation of church and state in UK. > > We sang hymns and prayed daily in my school, ands it was a standard government school. Your Queen is the head of the Anglican Church, so it would be kind of hard to sort the two out. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-average-american-know-about-non-christian-religions/463422/20 "2008-09-14T11:56:42Z")
During the 1970s, when I was in high skrool, we studied other faiths as part of World History/Social Studies as they arose throughout history. We didn’t have an actual class or segment of time which focused distinction on the different religions.