Guest Author - Les Shulman
In 2010, the Pew Research Center conducted a nationwide phone United States Basic Religious Knowledge Survey. The questionnaire, which was composed of 32 questions, was designed to determine the over 3400 participants’ breadth of knowledge about religion. Most of the questions were relatively easy but a few were purposefully difficult. The questions covered such areas as the Bible and Christianity, world religions, the role of religion in public life, and two definition questions about agnosticism and atheism. Based on the amount of questions answered correctly, the results were as follows: Atheists/Agnostics 20.9/32; Jewish 20.5/32; Mormon 20.3/32; White Evangelical Protestant 17.6/32; White Catholics 16/32; White Mainline Protestant 15.8/32; Nothing in Particular 15.2/32; Black Protestant 13.4/32; Hispanic Catholic 11.6/32. When a representative of Pew was asked what result was the least expected he replied that it was the atheists and agnostics scoring the highest on the survey. When determining what variables may have factored into those two groups of “nonbelievers” attaining the best score, especially regarding their knowledge of world religions, the results should not have been that surprising.
It is estimated that approximately 80% of atheists and agnostics were born into and raised in a faith-based established religion of which 75% were Christian and of the remaining individuals a significant portion were Jewish. Having had that exposure to the religion of their birth, these “converted” nonbelievers prior to accepting as their own the belief systems of agnosticism and atheism in many cases made an effort to investigate and introspectively explore other religions’ histories, philosophies/ teachings, and dogmas/traditions. Hence, through that investigatory and “soul searching process” they acquired a knowledge base regarding various religions; having learned about and reflected upon those religions they found their foundations and claims to be unconvincing and not compatible with their own beliefs. Additionally, for many of those that had been born Jewish their quest in search for the right path for themselves was encouraged by the “Jewish tradition of questioning and delving deeper to uncover the truth inherent in any discussion.”
Once a person in the United States concludes that they are an agnostic or an atheist, they become a member of a decidedly minority group. The three highest scorers on the survey, the “nonbelievers,” the Jews, and the Mormons, are all minorities and their “success” on it does not seem to be coincidental. The United States is one of the most religious of the developed countries in the world and minority status in a Judeo- Christian dominated society and culture provides many individuals with the motivation, in order to “defend” and to competently justify their own so-called “deviant” beliefs, to become conversant with Judaism, Christianity, and other mainstream religions and philosophies. Thus, their “underdog” position gave them the incentive to become more aware of the religious world around them and to acquire more information about various aspects of those religions.
Moreover, to an arguable degree, regardless of whether they were born into a religion or not, many agnostics and atheists are freethinkers. That means that their opinions are formed through a consistent critical thinking process that evaluates ideas, theories, and concepts on the basis of science, logic, and reason, not by dogma, tradition, or authority. In other words, in order for free thinkers to know and come to terms with who they are, they must “know” why and what they are not. Through that accepting and rejecting process they accumulate and internalize additional religious knowledge.
As a naturalistic atheistic agnostic the evolution of my belief system mirrors much of the above. I was born into a culturally Jewish yet agnostic family. My parents, although non-believers in the Jewish religion, thinking that it would be best for me to be exposed to the Jewish tradition had me go to Hebrew school; after less than two years there, at the age of 11, I rejected many of those traditions (what was up with this Day of Atonement stuff and “weighing” people’s sins and deeds- that was not the reality this pre-teen had knowledge about!) and I “dropped out" with the support of my parents. Additionally, my mother encouraged me to have a diverse range of friends especially those from other cultural and religious backgrounds. Exposed to the ideas of the 18th century philisophes in high school, I briefly became a Deist until I realized that I was “copping out” and soon after decided that I was an agnostic. However, wanting to know more about why I believed what I did and the basis for my beliefs, post high school I took courses in ethics, social psychology, cultural anthropology, comparative religions, and Eastern religions. As an adult freethinker and as an independent-minded member of a belief system minority group that quest for rational answers has been a lifelong pursuit and has allowed me to obtain more and more religious knowledge.
Thus, it really should not be so surprising that the “without knowledge” agnostics and the “without God” atheists really do a have a relatively decent amount of religious knowledge. Certainly then, when Mark Twain, a conflicted and freethinking Presbyterian, pointedly commented that “in religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them second-hand from other non-examiners...,” he was not talking about agnostics and atheists. If you fully examine the methodology, the results, and the conclusions of the Pew Survey of U.S. Religious Knowledge you can determine who he was referring to.
