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ATHEISTS AND AGNOSTICS, Jews and Mormons, are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants, and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history, and leading figures of major world religions.
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.
On questions about Christianity—including a battery of questions about the Bible—Mormons (7.9 out of 12 right on average) and white evangelical Protestants (7.3 correct on average) show the highest levels of knowledge. Jews and atheists/agnostics stand out for their knowledge of other world religions, including Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism; out of 11 such questions on the survey, Jews answer 7.9 correctly (nearly three better than the national average) and atheists/agnostics answer 7.5 correctly (2.5 better than the national average). Atheists/agnostics and Jews also do particularly well on questions about the role of religion in public life, including a question about what the U.S. Constitution says about religion.
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November 1, 2010 issue
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LETTERS
with contributions from TERRY HOLLIDAY, SHARON GESLER, MARILYN MCPHERSON, REBECCA BUHL
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LIFTING THE WEIGHT OF GRIEF
JEFF WARD-BAILEY, STAFF EDITOR
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PRAYER, CIVILITY, AND POLITICAL DISCOURSE
RON BALLARD
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ONLY BLESSED, NEVER CURSED
CHRISTA KREUTZ
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ARE WE MORTAL OR IMMORTAL?
BETH CAREY
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Smooth stone
Lynne Cook
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Unviolated purity
By Kate
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Sunny days are here
BY ANDREW WILSON
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What is true manhood?
David Stevens
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From grieving to blessing
BY THOMAS MITCHINSON
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Love liberates from grief
BY NANCY ROBISON
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When I missed my friend
BY LOUISE THORNTON
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No more sorrow
BY PAMELA GRESHAM
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HONORING DAD
BY SARAH MATUSEK
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Staying on course with God
BY DEBBY MILLER
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GRACE
WIL MEACHAM,
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GRIEF HEALED—'WRAPPED UP IN LOVE'
DOLORES BELL
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BACK AND RIB PAIN HEALED
JANE E. FITZGERALD
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FOOT INJURY HEALED QUICKLY
DIANE P. DAILEY