BG Feel Good Thread: Atheists Know More About Religion Than Believers

[BerenTebogo]

You answered 14 out of 15 questions correctly
for a score of 93%.

missed: 15. Which one of these preachers participated in the period of religious activity known as the First Great Awakening?

[oldoldman]

Feel good for some, maybe.

I really don't know which bothers me more, the believers that are completely glassy-eyed, "ill believe everything in the bible because it MUST BE TRUE" rednecks, the one "raptor jesus" was borne from, or the atheists who assume anyone who believes a higher power is possible must fall into the aforementioned category. Really, i'm stymied. Oh well, shake my head and move on.

Yay for the painfully obvious flamewar thread. Really, kudos.

He clearly performed this survey on his own just so he could start a flamewar thread on BG

[kareface]

This isn't shocking just thinking back over some debates on this site alone as example.

[Blarg]

I'm surprised that only 23% knew

11. According to rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, is a public school teacher permitted to read from the Bible as an example of literature, or not?

was permitted

[Kazen]

You answered 11 out of 15 questions correctly
for a score of 73%.

Atheist

[Zoolander]

I knew them, but why should people know that Martin Luther was the inspiration of the most retarded movement in history, aka the Protestant Reformation or who the hell Johnathan Edwards is. I would hope the larger version at least asks which direction Muslims pray or maybe even how many times a day they do.

Edit, was 13/15. I didn't know anything about Sabbath, although if I had thought more I should have gotten the commandments one right.

[Sylvrdragon]

9/15 =/

I'm disappointed in myself. I knew that John Smith started the Mormons, but I didn't know he WAS a Mormon. Kinda like how Jesus was Jewish. I bet L. Ron Hubbard wasn't a Scientologist!

[Hyan]

Martin Luther was the inspiration of the most retarded movement in history, aka the Protestant Reformation.

Why?

EDIT: I can't believe some of the % on that quiz..

[Stumblingdrunk]

recognizing the catholic church is evil is by no means retarded, if only he just ended it there

[Marootsoobutsu]

15/15, Christian. Also, history major which is why I knew the 15th question. To the best of my knowledge, that never came up in church, nor in high school, nor in any class I can think of other than the History of American Religion. Also: Nirvana isn't unique to Buddhism; that question annoying.

What I would be interested in seeing, is how this would fare up if it were focused on a more atheist/agnostic society, where Christianity were not the norm. Mormons and Jews scored extremely highly on this, and neither is really an accepted mainstream religion; religious Jews-- particularly Orthodox Jews-- take their religious education very seriously, and includes much of the Jewish history not outlined in scriptures, and converting is an extremely intense ordeal. Mormons outside of Utah are more likely to be converts than born into it, and converts to a religion unfamiliar to their household tend to be more devoted and thirsty for the details of the faith than those who grew up in it (at least, so sayeth my history of religion profs, but it makes sense). Given that in most of America, being a "Christian" is the accepted and expected norm, I'm not at all surprised that many people who described themselves as Christian did poorly. One thing I did notice, though, is that the survey asked "How often do you attend church?" but I did not see results differentiated between frequent church-goers, and those who seldom/never go. While attending church=/= good Christian, it seems to me that those who go would be a more likely representation of actual practitioners of the faith than those who simply don the title because that is socially expected or family tradition.

Basically, I expect atheists and agnostics to be more (but not absolutely) knowledgeable about Christianity than Christians, and about non-Christian faiths than Christians, simply because they must be more prepared to defend their views to themselves... it takes more strength to stand apart from society deliberately than to stand with it passively. If the roles were reversed, I suspect that the results would likewise be reversed.

Incidentally: as of May 2010, those who have a post-graduate degree are *more* likely than those who have no collegiate degree to be weekly church-goers, while those who have only a bachelor's or associate's degree are less likely.

[Aoshi]

In b4 post count because lets face it with my join date being what it is i could have easily tried to log in at 2 A.M. to inflate my post count like someone else at any time but that isn't the point.

And wow i really don't post much so working this is annoying as shit but anyway like the article said it really comes down to a lot of people (and this is without a gross generalization) growing up in a religious household and eventually making a choice to not follow said religion.

I mean lets be real here and this isn't a knock to religion in any way but in general most well... happy for lack of a better word people who have not grown up in a religious household don't really go out actively seeking religion. I mean they kind of have little reason to do so...

more often than not its usually someone who has either grown up in the environment or has well fallen on hard times and feels they need to seek out some greater purpose for why their life is shitty to even consider religion to begin with, so yeah it really isn't surprising that the average atheist or "Agnostic" (because lets face it most people don't even know what it means) knows more about religion in general than someone who has grown up around it all their life.

[Sylvrdragon]

In b4 post count because lets face it with my join date being what it is i could have easily tried to log in at 2 A.M. to inflate my post count like someone else at any time but that isn't the point.

Do people even talk about post count on BG anymore? Perhaps if we were on the FFXI boards in a heated discussion and someone came strolling in with single-digit post count and started trying to lay down the law, but in General, the topics aren't often very specialized, and are often opinion-based. Now if you tried to argue against someone on the subject of their expertise (like arguing about Hentai to Gulkeeva!) and everyone but you KNEW about said person's expertise, then I could see you getting flamed for not picking your battles very well, but in this case, I don't think any one BGer's word will weigh in heavier than any other.

[Xno Kappa]

15/15 Devout Christian.

[Obev]

14/15, godless heathen. What the shit is a First Great Awakening? Sounds like Lovecraft to me.

[Yabby]

13/15

[Mizango]

15/15 Devout Christian.

You're an anomaly then, because they had people higher than you in the Christian underworld that couldn't even get 10 of 15. Let me see if I can find the full article on PhysOrg, shits hilarious. Speaking of which, if you are smarter than the ones that you pay to listen to, then why do you not only pay but listen? Also, do you call people in your community out when they butcher a story or get it wrong? Someone's full of shii-iiiit ♫

45/30 I'm that bad ass. Nah, 13/15.

[Xno Kappa]

Nah, I'm just that holy son. I spit that bible knowledge off the dome! True story.

[Woozie]

15/15 Devout Christian.

Same. I'm willing to bet that much of my new church would also score 15 (or at least 13), whereas most of my old church would score something pathetic, like 6.

The only thing that surprises me about this poll is that black Christians didn't score the absolute lowest. I had just typed out a huge rant about why I don't like inner city black churches anymore, but then I realized none of you care. I left my old church about a month ago and joined a new one on Sunday. It's nice to be around people who are actually doing something with their lives. I'll stop typing now before I end up with another rant typed up.

Edit: How is the question about Moses not 100% across the board? If any of you got that wrong, let me know. I'm curious to see how it's possible to grow up without knowing that.

[Mizango]

Nah, I'm just that holy son. I spit that bible knowledge off the dome! True story.

YAY YAAAAYYYY!

The only thing that surprises me about this poll is that black Christians didn't score the absolute lowest. I had just typed out a huge rant about why I don't like inner city black churches anymore, but then I realized none of you care. I left my old church about a month ago and joined a new one on Sunday. It's nice to be around people who are actually doing something with their lives. I'll stop typing now before I end up with another rant typed up.

I was surprised by that too actually. I know Ive told you this before but we used to attend one of those "hood" churches and maaaaaaan, it was awful. But no, give your rant, they are always funny lol. I like when Woozie goes off.

[Tyrath]

13/15.

I have no idea who Job is and didn't know the last one.