Atheists Know More About Religion Than Believers

[Orual]

So who's surprised?

The results of this poll synch up nicely with my real-life experiences. Not to say that there aren't religiously-knowledgeable believers in the world, but I can recall a number of times I've referenced a bible story in a conversation and gotten a Look Of Total Blankness from my Christian counterpart.

[Zuul]

Almost half of Catholics surveyed did not know that their church teaches that the bread and wine used in Communion actually become the body and blood of Christ.

A majority of Protestants, meanwhile, could not identify Martin Luther as the driving force behind the Protestant Reformation.

Yeah, that doesn't surprise me all that much. For many people it's a cultural thing and so they simply don't need to learn much about it. They absorb the rituals through osmosis and don't dig deeper than that.

[Sarahfeena]

I'd love to read more about this. The article says that the quiz was about "different faiths." It doesn't surprise me that religious people wouldn't be well-educated about religions that are not their own. Also, if they took a random sample of people, then folks who are identifying themselves as a particular religion may not be practicing or have any educational background in the religion. I know people who call themselves Catholic who haven't been to church except for weddings and funerals since their first communion. So, I'm not surprised by this, and I think that atheists in general probably tend to be more well-educated in general, especially in the humanities, so it makes sense that they would know a lot of the basics.

[Marsilia]

This has been my experience with certain people, and it came in really handy when my grandmother asked me if a particular best friend of mine was a Christian. "Oh, Memaw, she's actually read the Bible cover to cover, and we talk a lot about spiritual things!"