Religious Illiteracy in America -- Sightings

Many seemed surprised at the results of the recently released survey results on American Religious knowledge, or  better, the lack there of.  Although many of my friends reported doing quite well, the average American -- indeed the average Christian did rather poorly.  But as Martin Marty points out in today's Sightings piece, we shouldn't be all that surprised by the results.  Why?  Well, even back in the old "Golden Age" of the 1950s, when everyone seemed to be going to church, researchers were finding similar results.  And why might this be, well, as Marty notes, the enemy of faith isn't atheism or agnosticism, it's indifference and taking for granted our faith.   So, take a read and offer your thoughts!  

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Sightings  10/4/2010

Religious Illiteracy in America

-- Martin E. Marty

The least surprising surprise—but the most commented-on—in the “U. S. Religious Knowledge Survey” issued by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life last Tuesday was picked up at once by Laurie Goodstein in The New York Times. As polls showed that there was not much “Religious Knowledge” on hand, she stressed, “Those who scored the highest were atheists and agnostics, as well as two religious minorities: Jews and Mormons.” Why was anyone surprised? Those who grow up in a faith-community take their religion for granted; its stories and teachings are like the wall-paper in their mental furnished apartments. Those rejecting such spiritual housing tend to take regular looks back to see what they rejected, or need information for debating points should they challenge the half-faithful.

           

The Pew poll-takers wisely drew on the knowledge of Stephen Prothero, whose book Religious Literacy showed that religious illiteracy has had a long run in religious America. Should we be shocked! shocked! at this new Pew set of findings? Hardly. In 1955 Will Herberg’s Protestant-Catholic-Jew, the most quoted account of religion in our most religiously-touted modern decade, produced data that anticipates and parallels the new findings.

           

I recently had occasion to revisit a book from that era by (my then Ph.D. co-advisor) Daniel J. Boorstin, later Librarian of Congress. His The Genius of American Politics came out when we were trying to make sense of the religious scene in the Eisenhower years, Herberg’s prime. At chapter length he noticed that “Perhaps never before in history has a people talked so much and said so little about its basic beliefs.” He gave many illustrations of practices in the then-as-now Overclothed Public Square. The U.S. Supreme Court rulings against school prayer and devotional Bible reading had not yet come down, but, never mind, when religious propagation and worship was still allowed and sometimes practiced in public schools and other such institutions, “we” were illiterate. There was no golden age, no time of “good old days.”

           

Exceptions showed up then as now. What did help inform the literate minority? The informed learned in institutions—church, parochial school, Sunday school, and, most importantly, homes—which taught and nurtured a then-less-distracted minority of children and citizens in general. Some of these survive, get revitalized, and run against the trends. Back then, we surmise, most citizens knew even less than they do now about other religions than their own or others to be found in the American majority. But even their own faiths, rich in stories, teachings, doctrines, and ethical injunctions, were and often are taken for granted. The “enemies” of American religion, at least in matters of knowledge, are not agnosticism or atheism but indifference, “coasting,” taking the drama of faith(s) for granted. The leaders of religious institutions who care—parents, professors, ethicists—and who contend that the expression of faith cannot well be confined to personal experience, individual “contentless spirituality” have their work cut out for them. The new Pew survey could be a wake-up call—or the occasion for multitudes to push the “Snooze” button once again.

           

References

Daniel J. Boorstin, The Genius of American Politics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953).

Laurie Goodstein, “Basic Religion Test Stumps Many Americans,” The New York Times, September 28, 2010.

 

Will Herberg, Protestant-Catholic-Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983).

Stephen Prothero, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--and Doesn't (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2007).

“U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey,” The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, September 28, 2010.

Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, publications, and contact information can be found at www.illuminos.com.

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Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Ignorance isn't Bliss -- It's dangerous

Yesterday I wrote about the recent Pew Forum survey of religious knowledge, a survey that revealed that Americans are rather ignorant when it comes to religion -- even our own religious tenets.  But while ignorance might be bliss it can also be dangerous, for it leads to persecution, repression, and even violence.  It has political consequences, as we're seeing in the ongoing attempt to smear the President, who though he is by confession of faith a Christian, is being painted as a Muslim.  Now there's nothing wrong with being a Muslim -- in my mind -- but in the minds of many Islam equals terrorism, and thus, if the President is a Muslim then he must be in secret league with terrorists. 

One of the points that comes out of the Pew Survey is the need to teach comparative religion, treating every religion fairly.  Unfortunately this effort at overcoming ignorance is hampered on two fronts -- those who want a doctrinal Christian view taught in the schools, and those who want to exclude all forms of religion from the schools.  And, of course, the schools, with enough other problems on their plate want to stay clear of any controversy, so they simply don't address religion.  They know that offering comparative religion or bible as literature classes will be a lose-lose situation.

It is in this context that John Esposito, one of the preeminent scholars of Islam (and a Roman Catholic), and Sheila Lalwani, a fellow at the Center for Christian-Muslim Understanding at Georgetown University, which Esposito directs, respond to news that the Texas Board of Education, a Board that has offered up bizarre decisions on science textbooks and American history textbooks, have voted by a 7-6 margin to oppose textbooks that in their view portray Christianity unfavorably and "gloss over" unfavorable aspects of Islam.  The authors suggest that this decision can have a disastrous effect on Muslim-Christian relations and feed Islamophobia, in large part because the impact that the Texas school system has on text-book publishing across the nation.  What the Texas Board decides influences the textbooks used in districts across the country.  

Ignorance of religion is not bliss, it is dangerous.  Indeed, as the Esposito and Lalwani make clear -- Islam isn't the enemy, ignorance is!  It is this ignorance that is being used for political purposes to divide and conquer the nation.  The question is, then, what shall we do to dispel the clouds of ignorance that are hanging over the nation?  

Is Ignorance Bliss? Thoughts on Pew Survey on Religious Knowledge

Americans are rather religious people.  By overwhelming numbers we say that we believe in God, but do we truly understand what we believe?  Or, do we believe in God because, well, because we do?   That is, unless forced to wrestle with the question of God's existence or presence, we simply assume it to be true.  I grew up believing in Santa Claus, but at a certain age, I let it go.  Is belief in God simply an unwillingness to face facts? 

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life conducted a survey, asking via phone calls, a series of questions on religious knowledge, 15 of which can be found online.  The results are rather disheartening.  The average score on this quiz is 50%.  That is an F!   Atheists do best, scoring around 65%.  That's a D, but still better than most Christians, evangelical or mainline, who score closer to the average.  

From the executive summary we read:

On average, Americans correctly answer 16 of the 32 religious knowledge questions on the survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. Atheists and agnostics average 20.9 correct answers. Jews and Mormons do about as well, averaging 20.5 and 20.3 correct answers, respectively. Protestants as a whole average 16 correct answers; Catholics as a whole, 14.7. Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons perform better than other groups on the survey even after controlling for differing levels of education.

But does it matter if Christians know the names of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), or that Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, or that the majority of Pakistanis are Muslim?    Or, when it comes to faith, is ignorance bliss?  As long as I feel close to God, do I need anything more? 

My answer is, yes, it does matter.  Lack of understanding/knowledge can lead to major misunderstandings and misapplications of one's faith.  It leads to stereotyping of others, leading to fear and mistrust, and even, in some cases, to religious violence.  The question is:  what do we do about the problem?

Well, we could:

• Teach comparative religions in our schools -- note I said comparative religions, with each religion being given equal footing in the conversation.  (A majority of persons answering the questions didn't know that the Bible can be taught as literature or that comparative religions can be taught in public school). 
• Be more attentive to teaching the faith in our churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples -- a reminder that our educational component has fallen short in recent years).  
• Take personal responsibility and read about our own faith and the faiths of others.