From last night's PBS Newshour, which I liked a LOT better when it was still "The Newshour with Jim Lehrer" and better still when it was "The MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour." But let's not pick nits.
The most interesting thing about the piece above and the poll itself (full article here)? Atheists/agnostics scored highest, followed by Jews and Mormons; atheists/agnostics supposedly make up only four percent of the American population. You can take an abbreviated version of the poll here. It's a 15 question quiz as opposed to the 32 questions asked in the "official" poll. My results:
I missed the question about the Jewish Sabbath and the question about the significance of the wafer and wine in the Catholic Communion ritual. I'm also one of those self-identified agnostics, even though I AM a Buddhist by an official act of the United States Gub'mint. For the record, my definition of agnostic: I acknowledge the existence of a supreme being; I just don't know what his/her name is. I'm fond of saying I HOPE it's something like Phoebe, Aphrodite, or Diana.
And now back to Red Eye.
You answered 15 out of 15 questions correctly
ReplyDeletefor a score of 100%.
Yay for me! That, and $1.29 will get me a french vanilla coffee at the Valero station.
Actually, I guessed on the Edwards question...didn't remember if it was him, or Finney.
I scored with you. It seems that I do not know my Hindu's from my Buddhists, although I tried to recall what I learned from reading Siddhartha years ago.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting and quite timely for me. The Oracle and I are going back to church after a 15 year absence and we are changing our religion. It gets a little complicated from here but suffice to say - The Oracle grew up Catholic, then converted to the evangelical faith I was raised in - which we both walked away from 15 years ago.
ReplyDeleteToday? The Oracle is returning to his roots and I'm making the conversion to Catholicism. Bigger leap for me if I got into the more complicated details.
I got 14 out of 15 questions right; which could be as much about knowledge as that I'm a bottomless pit of useless information. :-)
I'm still trying to figure out how to blog about our journey.
I got the same score; missed different questions, though.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever taken this test?
http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx
I got some velly, velly interestin' results there....
Religion is everywhere lately. I took a similar quiz from a completely different source just yesterday. Media topic du jour, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I got 13 of 15 myself. I missed out on the last question, concerning the preacher involved in the great awakening. I knew damn well it wasn't Billy Graham, and it became a toss-up after that. I guessed wrong. The one I'm mad about missing was the Pakistan question. I did NOT guess Muslim, although that was my first thought. Damn it! Always go with your first inclination!
ReplyDeleteThat, and $1.29 will get me a french vanilla coffee at the Valero station.
ReplyDeleteAin't this a GREAT country!?! Congrats on your perfection, Andy. You can look forward to lotsa French Vanilla coffee in Nirvana... which is MUCH better than Valero's. Or so I hear.
Lou: My knowledge of Hindus is sadly lacking, too.
I got 14 out of 15 questions right; which could be as much about knowledge as that I'm a bottomless pit of useless information. :-)
Heh. Boy, do I hear THAT! Don't ya wonder how that happens/where the trivia come from? As for telling your story... it will come to ya, Kris.
Staci: Yep, I've taken that quiz. I took it again, just for grins and my top two were the same... Neo-Pagan at 100% and Unitarian Universalism at 96%. Interestingly (and scary), Scientology leaped from #10 to #4 this time.
Andy: Religion DOES seem to be in the forefront of all things today. I've noticed that as well.
Always go with your first inclination!
Unless it's closing time at the bar. ;-)
Atheists/agnostics scored highest, followed by Jews and Mormons...
ReplyDeleteI'll bet. Atheists scored highest in the same way that guy from Revenge of the Nerds was good at sex.
Comes from thinking about it all the time, not from having it.
Still, I do agree this is cause for concern. I expect Americans to remain ignorant about religion until it becomes accepted to make movies about it, Cecil De Mille Yul Brynner Ten Commandments style.
Thus it shall be written; thus it shall be done.
I got all 15 (but, like Andy, I guessed on the Great Awakening question. Sue me -- I've always prayed deuring big tests and have therefore been a good test-taker.)
ReplyDelete2/3 of our adult children have chosen different churches than the one in which they were raised, and they actively participate (except the one who's pretty much an agnostic -- as is my father. Mama was buried in the church. Well, not literally, but you know). We gave them the background, backed off, and let them go. As long as they're happy and comforted, I'm good with their choices.
Me? I consider myself a "spiritual Christian" who doesn't derive a whole lot from organized religion. I think there's a lot of psychological folderol that accompanies that "not deriving a lot from organizewd religion," but I'm in a very good place, comfortable in my relationship with God.
Wow. I didn't intend to throw so many cards out on the table!
Comes from thinking about it all the time, not from having it.
ReplyDeleteIf you took the time to watch the vid you'd know that remarks were made about agnostics spending quite a bit of time investigating various religions. My further take on this is man generally seeks answers for the unanswerable, thus religion... in its many forms.
Moogie: We all get to a place that is comfortable for us... more or less... eventually. I think. I also think you did right by your kids; you did much more for yours than my parents did for theirs.
As for your cards... you can play 'em as you see fit. I don't mind, at all.
Well, since "card playin'" is allowed...
ReplyDeleteI am a Christian. I believe that Jesus was God come to earth in human form. I believe that His birth, death, and resurrection paid for the sins of man.
That being said, I'm kind of an odd Christian. Sure, I was raised up as a Southern Baptist, got baptized, and went on with life. But when I was almost 30 years old I received what I'd call a true "revelation" from God Himself.
Everything was different after that. The churchy, religiony stuff got pushed off the shelf, and I really knew that I knew that I knew that God REALLY cared about me. I've been hanging with that for 21 or so years now, and He hasn't let me down. Not once.
Sure, I've let Him down more than once (per hour), but I know that He considers my frame...that I am but dust. And, the older I get, the more I understand His Eternal Self. It's like, I'm just passing through, and even though I am SO unlike Christ Jesus, I try to find a way to bless somebody daily.
Surely, I know that even the best of our works are filthy rags compared to His holiness. And, I am not banking on even one of them to put me in any way in good stead with God. But, my carnal man side feels good when I do. So, I do it for me, knowing that Jesus did it for me.
I am quite sure that NONE of that made one bit of sense. I'm an expert on such things.
I am quite sure that NONE of that made one bit of sense.
ReplyDeleteIt made quite a bit of sense, Andy. I've seen very few explanations of belief/faith that were more lucid and concise as yours. Well done.
Okay, so there you go using big words again.
ReplyDelete"lucrid," and "concise" ???
Regardless, thanks! I think...
Lucrid? ;-)
ReplyDeleteSigh...
ReplyDeleteBuck, it has been a day and a half. And then another one.
Sigh...
Okay, so I'm figuring "lucid," and "lucrid" have different definitions. Nyuk!
I really suck.
So, in the words of my old negro lady friend, Mattie Hamilton, who died about 25 years ago, "Thank God for Jesus!" I think He can figure out dang near everything, even when I can't.
"LUCID"...I told you it was a big word...it gots two syllables.
I didn't know we got to talk about our religion here. If I told you about mine, I'd probably piss everyone off. And yes, you can say "piss" without going to hell.
ReplyDeleteLou, you are treading on thin ice.
ReplyDeleteI mean, saying "piss" just might end you up in the bad place.
It's "pisseth." Just sayin'...
You answered 14 out of 15 questions correctly
ReplyDeletefor a score of 93%.
I got the Charles Finney/Jonathan Edwards thing wrong.
I didn't know we got to talk about our religion here.
ReplyDeleteWe can talk about most anything around here, Lou, given we're all adults who exercise restraint and consideration. That's one thing I love about the few, the proud that hang in these parts: very civil folks.
Laurie: Join the club! ;-)
I do realize we can talk about anything and everything here - part of the reason I love coming here. Still, I don't want to pisseth anyone off.
ReplyDeleteI didn't take the test but I came across this article today and it made me think of your post...
ReplyDeletehttp://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/100928/odds/odd_us_religion_survey_1
Very interesting findings!!
KC