How much do you know about the religion of others?

How much do you know about your religion? How about that of others? The Pew Research Center interviewed nearly 11,000 randomly selected Americans, asking 32 questions about the Bible and Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

Questions like these were included. Which religion is associated with yoga? In the Muslim tradition, believers have a religious obligation to make a pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest city at least once during their lifetime, if they are able. Which city is that?

In which religious tradition are men generally required to wear a turban in public and may carry a dagger? Which religious groups traditionally teaches that salvation comes through faith alone?

Asked whether Peter, Paul, or Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, only 51% gave the correct answer. Fewer than one person in five identified “truth of suffering” as one of Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths.

Among the more troubling results were these two. Asked the numbers of Jews in the United States, many surmised it to be half or more of the population. The correct answer is under 5%. A majority greatly overestimated the size of both the Jewish and the Muslim populations in America, which may explain some of the current fear-based politics.

Only one in four Americans know their own Constitution prohibits a religious test for holding public office, which may explain the anger when a Muslim is elected to public office and takes the oath with a hand on the Quran instead of a Bible.

The score? Jewish participants scored highest, but only knew an average of 18.7 answers to the 32 questions. The big surprise is that second place went not to Protestants or Catholics but to atheists. Those who believe there is no God landed just behind Jews with and average of 17.9/32. Agnostics followed at 17.0/32.

Evangelicals and Mainline Protestants scored 15.5 and 14.6 respectively followed by Catholics (14.0) and Mormons (13.9). Interestingly, not a single group received what would be considered a passing grade in any elementary school classroom.  

Pew researchers explored whether childhood Sunday school attendance made a difference. It made it worse. Those who attended Sunday school for seven-plus years as a child were able to answer only 9.0 of the 32 questions. Even those who attended private religious schools scored as poorly, i.e. 9.4.

The relatively higher scores among non-believers leads us to ask where and when did they learn more about religion than those who claim one? Did they become non-believers because of what they learned or because of how it was taught?

Measure your knowledge against these results? Take Pew’s shorter, 15-question quiz. Compare your knowledge with the other 10,971 randomly sampled adults. Google the Pew report, “What Americans Know About Religion."

The question left hanging is why people of faith know so little about their own beliefs and those of others. The results must be seen as a failure of faith communities to teach. Regardless, the results provide a roadmap to what does make a difference in religious knowledge, particularly in times where so many are disdainful, fearful, or dismissive of another’s religious beliefs.

The biggest difference maker? Knowing people of other faiths. The more friends that respondents have of faiths other than their own, the higher the score. It’s also true of education. Higher educational attainment is associated with a greater knowledge of faith matters, even in a society where religion is not generally taught in public schools.

But, here’s the kicker. “Those who are most knowledgeable about a religion (and are not members of that religion) tend to rate the religion’s adherents most favorably.” Higher scores “tend to be associated with warmer evaluations of most religious groups.” To know them is to like them.

So, it’s not Sunday school and sermons. They have little impact. Instead, it’s secular education and personal relationships. Save the world by moving beyond the pews and into a classroom. Get to know a Muslim, a Jew, even a Sikh and bring peace on earth, goodwill among all people.