God was there...right?

[dan foster]

I'm reading an interesting book called "Religious Literacy" by Stephen Protero. The premise of the book is that in countries, such as the US where a majority of the country claim to be deeply religious, even the most devout - are shockingly ignorant about religion.

The introduction begins "...A visiting professor from Austria offered a passing observation about American undergraduates. They are very religious, he told me, but they know next to nothing bout religion. Thanks to compulsory religious education (which in Austria begins in elementary schools), European students can name the twelve apostles and the Seven Deadly Sins, but they wouldn't be caught dead going to church or synagogue themselves. American students are just the opposite. Here faith without understanding is the standard; here religious ignorance is bliss. "

Of course he goes on to illustrate how this ignorance extends beyond the youth to the religious and nonreligious communities in general. One of the more interesting points that he makes is the danger of religious illiteracy. For example (and to paraphrase), could Waco have turned out differently had law enforcement (or someone) understood Revelations? In the aftermath of 9/11 religious ignorance led to prejudice of anyone from the middle east. President Bush mentioned that Islam is peace while televangelists claimed that it's a religion of war. Because Americans are basically ignorant of Islam...who knew which was right?

I'm really enjoying this author's perspective. I'll admit that I could be more knowledgeable regarding religion, but from what I read w/in the forums so could some who claim to be religious.

To borrow another quote on the lack of religious education in American (I'm paraphrasing);

"Everyone should read the bible.  We need more atheists"
-- Penn and Teller