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Forums - General - Americans Don't Know Much About Religion (especially the religious)

scottie on 02 October 2010
marciosmg said:

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.

 


@ bolded - they took that into account - there was a question in the poll that, after determining your religion, determined how strongly you believed in that religion and how frequently you did things like reading from the bible. They seperated the results into religious folks who dont care too much and those who do, and it went atheists > Christians who care >>> Ambivalent Christians

 

@ underlined - that hurts a little. I'm an atheist (well, agnostic actually but everyone uses atheist to refer to agnosticism anyway, actual athieism is stupid) and I can guarentee that I have never gone out of my way to debunk a religion. Nor do I have a problem with religion, even if I do have a problem with some of the things that some people do in the name of their religion. I know a decent amount about the major religions through a combination of factors, non of which I entered into with malice in my heart. If you read the study carefully, you will see that the majority of the difference between number of questions answered correctly comes from the fact that Athiests know more about other religions, such as Buddhism than Christians do (in this study that is, please dont take that out of context) 



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marciosmg on 03 October 2010
scottie said:
marciosmg said:

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.

 


@ bolded - they took that into account - there was a question in the poll that, after determining your religion, determined how strongly you believed in that religion and how frequently you did things like reading from the bible. They seperated the results into religious folks who dont care too much and those who do, and it went atheists > Christians who care >>> Ambivalent Christians

 

@ underlined - that hurts a little. I'm an atheist (well, agnostic actually but everyone uses atheist to refer to agnosticism anyway, actual athieism is stupid) and I can guarentee that I have never gone out of my way to debunk a religion. Nor do I have a problem with religion, even if I do have a problem with some of the things that some people do in the name of their religion. I know a decent amount about the major religions through a combination of factors, non of which I entered into with malice in my heart. If you read the study carefully, you will see that the majority of the difference between number of questions answered correctly comes from the fact that Athiests know more about other religions, such as Buddhism than Christians do (in this study that is, please dont take that out of context) 

Im sorry. I didnt mean as an attack. What I meant is that atheists , because they see religion affecting several aspects of society, study those religions to be able to disprove them (debunk was the word I badly used) in case he needs to talk about it to anyone or defend a position he agrees with or wants to vote for.

There are atheists who live to debunk religion, but those are some and I dont want to generalize a group because of it.

Also there is the aspect that religions is dominant in society. Most people are, so I would think that for someone to call themselves atheists, they really need to study religions to be able to be sure (as they can be of course) that they are right. Society always pressures people into being whatever the majority is.

I hope I made myself understood. Again not trying to attack you or anything.



www.jamesvandermemes.com

Wagram on 03 October 2010

Why would I want to know it? I can't put my faith in books that could have been written by our government or by people who just wanted to make shit up.

Find me some more substancial proof than a book and maybe i'll listen....for 2 seconds.

I believe in a god or god(s) but not the ones created by man.



scottie on 03 October 2010
marciosmg said:
scottie said:
marciosmg said:

 

Im sorry. I didnt mean as an attack. What I meant is that atheists , because they see religion affecting several aspects of society, study those religions to be able to disprove them (debunk was the word I badly used) in case he needs to talk about it to anyone or defend a position he agrees with or wants to vote for.

There are atheists who live to debunk religion, but those are some and I dont want to generalize a group because of it.

Also there is the aspect that religions is dominant in society. Most people are, so I would think that for someone to call themselves atheists, they really need to study religions to be able to be sure (as they can be of course) that they are right. Society always pressures people into being whatever the majority is.

I hope I made myself understood. Again not trying to attack you or anything.


Ok, no offence taken then :)

 

Well yeah, you may be right about that. I don't find it where I live - Australia doesn't have a very high Christian population compared to America, especially amongst people my age. I do know a few religious people, some Christians, a Muslim who I have never, ever caught acting in accordance with the teachings of the Qu'ran and I do like to know a bit about all religions, even if for nothing more than a talking point.