I listen to several podcasts about different religious and spiritual disciplines, I read a lot, and through much of my life I've been willing to go to church with anyone who invited me to go. Thus, I've been exposed to a lot of neat ideas (I've even been to a major Krishna temple). One of the ideas that fits this situation I heard on the Minnesota Atheists podcast and that is that the majority of Americans are "apatheists". It's such an interesting notion that, while not being completely true, probably fits a lot of people. That is, the majority of people you meet are probably apathetic (disinterested) toward theism (the doctrinal belief in a deity). However, if you asked them their beliefs they will default into the last doctrine that they followed ... even if that doctrine occurred in childhood when so many of us were indoctrinated into beliefs such as Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, and the superman Jesus. It's that same childhood memory that stirs the neurons when the question is asked and the answer comes out in a rote fashion with little or no thought ... at least that is often my experience.
For the last several years I've seen a few reports of studies that talk about how atheists and agnostics often know more about various world religions than members of those religions. Such studies have shown that that this is most often true of the knowledge that a member of a faith has of other faiths outside of their own but sometimes this even proves true of the person's own proclaimed faith. The Pew Center recently published results of a study that showed a shocking lack of knowledge of fundamental principles of the major religions held even by members of those faiths. Who scored the highest? Jews, atheists, and agnostics scored the highest followed by Mormons. Interestingly, when looking for articles on google I came across several decrying atheists as being ignorant. Perhaps this is where the problem lies?
You can take part of the quiz yourself ... I missed one of the 15 representative questions and ended up in the 97th percentile which is sad when you consider the questions.
When I was more antagonistic about religion I used to ask Catholics to explain to me the dogma of the "Immaculate Conception" and I was always surprised by the answer. I think I only ever met one person, who wasn't a priest, who could explain it. Often I'd hear how they don't talk about that in service or that they converted and didn't catch that. Still, it's a central tenant of a very structured branch of Christianity and it seems inexcusable not to understand a concept that is central to the dogma of "original sin". Do people simply tune out during their Sunday morning services?
Protestants should, by no means, get a free pass. It amazes me how few people I've talked to realize that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all share the same book as a central pillar of their faith ... it's the book that most know as "The Old Testament" that I tend to refer to as the "Jewish Bible" after reading Marcus Borg. And, of course, I always love it when I meet a Protestant who doesn't think that they are Protestant because they haven't learned where they fit into the greater schema of religious classification. I grew up hearing from some how Catholics aren't Christians because they worship Mary rather than Jesus. It is for all of these reasons that I study such things because I find it inconceivable that the thing that so many people hold to be central to their lives can be so muddled by so many. What is it about religion that causes people to be so blind and uninquisitive about their proclaimed most sacred beliefs?
Are we a nation torn between apatheists and fundamentalist exclusionists? I sincerely hope not. It is for this reason that I try to read and keep up on various Christian teachings while studying and identifying most strongly with Buddhism. It's amazing how so many tenants of faith look the same when you strip the dogma away and look at them for what they are actually saying. Some people I talk to seem to think we are heading toward another religious reformation much like the Protestant Reformation with Martin Luther (one of the answers to the quiz above btw). I could see this perhaps. Many people, myself included, don't feel like they fit into the modern landscape of organized religion so they don't try ... while still proclaiming themselves to be something that perhaps they are not. Is there something else on the horizon for those folks or is Soylent Green truly people? Time will tell.
