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athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
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Author:  Wozniak [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 12:28 pm ]
Post subject:  athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39397251/ns/us_news-life

Quote:
Respondents to the survey were asked 32 questions with a range of difficulty, including whether they could name the Islamic holy book and the first book of the Bible, or say what century the Mormon religion was founded. On average, participants in the survey answered correctly overall for half of the survey questions.


Quote:
Atheists and agnostics scored highest, with an average of 21 correct answers, while Jews and Mormons followed with about 20 accurate responses. Protestants overall averaged 16 correct answers, while Catholics followed with a score of about 15.


i want to take the test to see how well i do. i like to think that im pretty well rounded when it comes to religions. that being said, im not surprised that Roman Catholics came in dead last. the only time we generally care is Easter and Christmas.
Author:  TheBlackDahliaMurder [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 12:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
This shouldn't be a surprise because as we don't have a true set of beliefs (I myself am atheist), we can take a view from a wider perspective.

Also, it seems many atheists are extremely argumentative, and know exactly how to argue with people of many religions.
Author:  fly as hale [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 12:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
Not surprising.
Author:  acrossthelines [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 1:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
That doesn't surprise me one bit.

TheBlackDahliaMurder wrote:
Also, it seems many atheists are extremely argumentative, and know exactly how to argue with people of many religions.


Argumentative is fun haha (in person; online, not so much, because people misinterpret tone too much). There is a correlation between IQ, a certain couple personality types, and atheism; those same personality types also tend to be incredibly argumentative (and inquisitive, which explains the correlation with atheists' knowing more about religion than those who are actually religious, on average). Combining everything together, I am firmly of the belief that the causation behind all of it is personality; that's the common link between all those characteristics. I've never seen anything that even touches on that, though, beyond surveys asking people who know their types what their religious beliefs are. (My type happens to be the most argumentative with the highest IQ and is the most likely to be atheist. :P )
Author:  peteythedancingsabre [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 1:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
TheBlackDahliaMurder wrote:
This shouldn't be a surprise because as we don't have a true set of beliefs (I myself am atheist), we can take a view from a wider perspective.

Also, it seems many atheists are extremely argumentative, and know exactly how to argue with people of many religions.


Ehh, I think more so than either of those reasons is that most people who are atheist tend to study different religions before counting them all out. I and most atheists/agnostics I know really did some searching with religions before deciding to not have faith. That's likely the reason they know so much more about different religions. I don't think the "wider perspective" has anything to do with it. Atheists can be just as closeminded as anyone of faith.
Author:  Squanto [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 1:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
Atheists tend to question, and religious folks tend to believe.

I think that's the most fundamental difference.
Author:  Skyline_BNR34 [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 1:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
Squanto wrote:
Atheists tend to question, and religious folks tend to believe.

I think that's the most fundamental difference.

Spot on I would say.
Author:  CriminallyVu1gar [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
peteythedancingsabre wrote:
TheBlackDahliaMurder wrote:
This shouldn't be a surprise because as we don't have a true set of beliefs (I myself am atheist), we can take a view from a wider perspective.

Also, it seems many atheists are extremely argumentative, and know exactly how to argue with people of many religions.


Ehh, I think more so than either of those reasons is that most people who are atheist tend to study different religions before counting them all out. I and most atheists/agnostics I know really did some searching with religions before deciding to not have faith. That's likely the reason they know so much more about different religions. I don't think the "wider perspective" has anything to do with it. Atheists can be just as closeminded as anyone of faith.



That was a good point Captain. put the Pants right on the issue.
Author:  Sabresfansince1980 [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
I couldn't find the link to the 32 question test (I think it's not available anymore). I (another atheist) took the 15 question test currently available, and supported the findings by answering 14 question right.

I missed the question about who a leading figure in the "age of enlightenment" was (Jonathan Edwards). The rest were easy.
Author:  Displaced Fan [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
I think its mostly because athiests aren't afraid of learning about religious history and opposiong view points. Not wearing blinders is a wonderful thing sometimes.
Author:  CriminallyVu1gar [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 4:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
I think a lot of Americans in general don't have a natural curiosity towards things. Personally, I like learning about things, even if its something that probably isn;t going to impact my life greatly down the road.
Author:  mechaphil [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 4:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
peteythedancingsabre wrote:
TheBlackDahliaMurder wrote:
This shouldn't be a surprise because as we don't have a true set of beliefs (I myself am atheist), we can take a view from a wider perspective.

Also, it seems many atheists are extremely argumentative, and know exactly how to argue with people of many religions.


Ehh, I think more so than either of those reasons is that most people who are atheist tend to study different religions before counting them all out. I and most atheists/agnostics I know really did some searching with religions before deciding to not have faith. That's likely the reason they know so much more about different religions. I don't think the "wider perspective" has anything to do with it. Atheists can be just as closeminded as anyone of faith.

That's exactly the path my atheism sprang from.
Author:  Displaced Fan [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 4:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
mechaphil wrote:
That's exactly the path my atheism sprang from.


Me too. I was a youth leader and went to national assemblies and what not but somewhere along the line I started questioning things. I read a lot, dug into the history of the bible and then it kind of branched from there. I wanted to know where this faith that I was supposed to follow wiithout question actually came from and I ended up really enjoying the anthropology and historical context of religion rather than following it.
Author:  CriminallyVu1gar [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 4:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
When I was fairly young, around 8 or 9 maybe, I always thought the concept of heaven and hell was kind of ridiculous. But my mom was still hauling me to church and Sunday school every week, so I was just kind of like eh...whatever.

And I decided that if I was going to follow a religion, I was going to follow the most tolerant one, which is Wicca/Paganism who do not discriminate against same-sex couples. But as long as I can remember, I've believed in reincarnation.
Author:  peteythedancingsabre [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 5:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
mechaphil wrote:
peteythedancingsabre wrote:
Ehh, I think more so than either of those reasons is that most people who are atheist tend to study different religions before counting them all out. I and most atheists/agnostics I know really did some searching with religions before deciding to not have faith. That's likely the reason they know so much more about different religions. I don't think the "wider perspective" has anything to do with it. Atheists can be just as closeminded as anyone of faith.

That's exactly the path my atheism sprang from.


You're one of the people I thought of when making that post. ;)
Author:  Tvan [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 5:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
I read this on the NYTimes site: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/us/28religion.html?ref=todayspaper this morning

I took the 6 question test and got a 6/6 and I'm a Roman Catholic. (Although I think I know more about this stuff because I teach World History)
Author:  Stuuuuuuu [ Tue Sep 28, 2010 6:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
Yeah I think many have already highlighted the possible reasons for this. The questioning/curiosity points, and the studying of different religions were ones that I thought were especially cogent here.

For the record, I'm agnostic, and i'm sure if I could take this quiz (didn't see a link in the article), I'd do fairly well. In college I had a joint major in Religious Studies and History, so to fit the pattern again, I've spent a lot of time and effort studying various religions.
Author:  BlueandYellow [ Wed Sep 29, 2010 5:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
Image

Remember the sign, EDUCATE YOURSELF, GOOGLE THE QURAN???
Author:  Montalo [ Wed Sep 29, 2010 6:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
Wozniak wrote:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39397251/ns/us_news-life

Quote:
Respondents to the survey were asked 32 questions with a range of difficulty, including whether they could name the Islamic holy book and the first book of the Bible, or say what century the Mormon religion was founded. On average, participants in the survey answered correctly overall for half of the survey questions.


Quote:
Atheists and agnostics scored highest, with an average of 21 correct answers, while Jews and Mormons followed with about 20 accurate responses. Protestants overall averaged 16 correct answers, while Catholics followed with a score of about 15.


i want to take the test to see how well i do. i like to think that im pretty well rounded when it comes to religions. that being said, im not surprised that Roman Catholics came in dead last. the only time we generally care is Easter and Christmas.

im not suprised, honestly


A decent amount of catholics (myself included before i started studying my own) dont even know our own faith as we should, let alone know about other faiths
Author:  BlueandYellow [ Wed Sep 29, 2010 8:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: athiests/agnostics know more about religion then anyone else
I got to be honest, I don't even know what faith I follow. I believe god created the universe with the big bang, and sat back and watched the show.
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