Karl Wuensch writes in response to the results of the Pew Poll on religious knowledge >So, does atheism cause one to learn more about religion, >does knowing more about religion cause one to become >atheist, or might there be a third variable (or constellation >of variables) accounting for the correlation between atheism >and knowledge about religion?
I'm with Miguel on this, in contrast to the simplistic comment of Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists, whose words were quoted by Chris Green (see below). : Miguel wrote: >I vote for the third variable (or a constellation of variables). A look at a sample of the questions indicates it is not really about religion as such. As one of the authors of the poll says: "The single strongest factor predicting how well a person does on the religious knowledge quiz is education - the more years of schooling a person has, the more they are likely to know about religion, regardless of how religious they consider themselves to be." In other words, it's actually a general knowledge poll rather than a specifically religious knowledge poll, as can be seen from the sample of 15 questions from the 32 on this webpage: http://pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Belief_and_Practices/religious-knowledge-quiz-handout.pdf So I don't think anything much (beyond educational attainment) can be drawn from the fact that atheists/agnostics score high – especially as Jews score about the same, and Mormons are close behind! Jews 65% Atheist/Agnostic 64% Mormons 61% http://features.pewforum.org/quiz/us-religious-knowledge/index.php?q=16#religous-groups P.S. An anomaly of self-identification in such polls is the religion/ethnicity conflation in the case of Jews. If the US is anything like the UK, an appreciable proportion of Jews are atheist/agnostic -- as is the newly elected leader of the UK Labour Party, Ed Miliband: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-dawn-of-generation-ed-2092566.html Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London allenester...@compuserve.com http://www.esterson.org ------------------------------------------- From: Christopher D. Green <chri...@yorku.ca> Subject: Re: Atheism and Knowledge About Religion Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2010 17:35:15 -0400 Wuensch, Karl L wrote: http://tinyurl.com/37t55hv So, does atheism cause one to learn more about religion, does knowing more about religion cause one to become atheist, or might there be a third variable (or constellation of variables) accounting for the correlation between atheism and knowledge about religion? Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists, was quoted in the New York Times version of this story as saying: “I have heard many times that atheists know more about religion than religious people,.... Atheism is an effect of that knowledge, not a lack of knowledge. I gave a Bible to my daughter. That’s how you make atheists.” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/us/28religion.html?_r=2&hp Chris Green York U. Toronto ---------------------------- From: roig-rear...@comcast.net Subject: Re: Atheism and Knowledge About Religion Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2010 22:24:46 +0000 (UTC) Lacking any knowledge of empirical research regarding such questions, plus the fact that millions of people are given bibles, Qur'ans, and other similar texts from the moment they are born and remain religious throughout their lives, I vote for the third variable (or a constellation of variables). Miguel From: William Scott <wsc...@wooster.edu> Subject: Re: Atheism and Knowledge About Religion Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2010 22:26:53 -0400 You can take the quiz at: http://features.pewforum.org/quiz/us-religious-knowledge/ and get your percentile ranking. It's ridiculously easy. Bill Scott >>> "Jim Clark" <j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca> 09/28/10 9:42 PM >>> Hi Shouldn't that be Bibles, Qur'ans, OR other similar texts? If the survey questions sampled diverse religious traditions, then perhaps a person committed to one religion might not do well on religious tenets other than their own? Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5255 or send a blank email to leave-5255-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
