I blame church being so unbelievably boring. The bible is a boring read, church is a chore... there has to be a better way to brain wash people.

The Church should pay Bioware to make RPGs telling bible stories. They might even get new recruits going that route.

I think the biggest problem is that for you to be considered of one faith you just have to say you are.

So most people, who arent really religious, who dont even think about their faith, when asked about it , will say they are religious and miss the question.

Atheists on the other hand have a problem with religions. So they care. They read it about to have ways to debunk it. Therefore, they know at least some of its history.

Im catholic. I cant believe how many times, talking to other people who say they are catholic too, I hear things that are completely against catholic doctrine.

So the point becomes.: Are you a Christian or Jew or Muslim or whatever, just because you say so? I honestly dont know. I believe that for you to be of any faith you must abide by that religion's doctrines. If you dont, thats fine, but dont say that you still believe in it.

Can someone think that Chist wasnt God and say they are Christian? Can someone say they dont believe in God and say they are jewish?

I think not, but that doesnt keep others from saying it anyway.

@Homer_Simpson - With me is the other way around. The more I study it, the more I believe in it. You may think what you want, but you need to stop making your generalizing affirmation.

Have you ever heard of Arianis

I think its the fact that American culture has belittled religion. I ask my friends which faith they belong too. Most say I believe theirs a God so I'm Christian. Or my family is Catholic so I am too. These people do not actually educate themselves in their faiths. Its pretty bad and our western culture just teaches people that if they believe in God wow they must be Christian.

Athiests probubly know more about their beliefs and the beliefs of others as most of them are converts. Almost every Athiest I've met started out with a religious belief but through brain washing they were converted to Athiesm. But that means they first had to find holes in their own faiths so they in turn learn alot about both their faith and others.

Like for example how many people think Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are Christian. People in North America just don't educate themselves in religion as much as they should. If everyone started to go to church or temple or where ever their religious sites are. Then I think we would have a much more enlightened world.

Also this poll, what are the figures? How many people of each faith were interviewed? Were more Catholics and Christian's , Jews interviewed then the Athiests. I mean sure Athiests love to brag about their superior brain power but in reality I highly doubt they could school Christians and Catholics as much as they did.

No surprise there, Athiests knowing the most about religions makes complete sense to me.

lol atheists scored 20.9% compared to 17.6% for protestants. Not much to brag about, we all failed.

I would love to have taken that survey though see how I did.

It's available on the Pew site (15 questions of it, anyway).

I got 14 of 15. I took a wild shot in the dark on the last question.