We all strive to have blind faith. The kind of faith that doesn't make you hesitate, stumble, fidget, ponder, second-guess, take a second glance, get anxious...you know what I mean. I don't think I know a single human who doesn't experience some of these things. I think its normal for faith to go up and down and all around. But after reading this article, I realized that this 'blind faith' is one that I would never want.
"The United States is the most religious nation in the developed world, if religiosity is measured by belief in all things supernatural -- from God and the Virgin Birth to the humbler workings of angels and demons. Americans are also the most religiously ignorant people in the Western world. Fewer than half of us can identify Genesis as the first book of the Bible, and only one third know that Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount.Approximately 75 percent of adults, mistakenly believe the Bible teaches that "God helps those who help themselves." More than 10 percent think that Noah's wife was Joan of Arc. Only half can name even one of the four Gospels, and -- a finding that will surprise many -- evangelical Christians are only slightly more knowledgeable than their non-evangelical counterparts."
- The Washington Post
So sad. Kinda suprising. I mean, I know that we arn't the greatest at knowing a lot about our religion...but this does seem a little far fetched to me as well.
***I know that this is a very generalized statement and I in no way think that ALL Americans are like this. Actually, usually when I see the term "American" my mind sorta clumps Canadians in with them too.
2 comments:
I'm sorry, but I may have to disagree with that statement. Except for the part about missionaries, because true, the large population of mormon missionaries in the Washington D.C. area (because to non christians all christians are the same right?) would know a lot less than your average christian joe.
From experience the Washington Post tends to run on a liberal bias, discrediting whatever they can on their ward path. Don't believe everything you read, hannah. Even not to completely discredit them, the people who tend to be ignorant about the bible, tend to be ignorant in general...serving only to add to our trailer trash culture of quick fixes and fast food lifestyles. These same people think that passion of the christ was a good action flick, and this jesus guy is just somebody's homeboy. As an American there are things I love about my culture, and then there are things that sicken me. From where I live though, most people know where genesis is, however most can't spell it.
I'd be interested to know where they took their surveys and got there numbers. I can imagine these kinds of statistics being true for places like New York City or San Fransisco where they might've taken their surveys to find out what people think, but if you took it around to the average little town of America I don't think these many of these numbers would be even close. But that's just me.
Post a Comment