U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey

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.   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.  : Jews and Mormons do about as well, averaging 20.5 and 20.3 correct answers, respectively.

You can take the test here.

Pennies from Heaven!

Well...not really!   Heaven?   Nevermind!

Cleaned out my water cooler "coin collector" bottle.   It was half full of coins.   I've been tossing in pennies, nickels, dimes & quarters over the last several years.   A few 50 cent pieces and dollar coins in there too!  My little stash!   Decided it was time to take it to the bank.   This is a recession isn't it?   Separated the pennies from all the other coins.   30.2 lbs of pennies!  Schlept the 30.2 lbs over to the local supermarket and dumped them into the "coin counting" machine!

5,029 Pennies!!!   If I rolled them myself...that would have been 100 rolls of pennies!   How long does it take to roll 100 rolls of pennies?   More time than I have...even tho' I'm unemployed!  Like I said...this is a recession!   Total $51.09.   Wait...how does 5029 pennies add up to $51.09? Eight dimes snuck in there somehow!   Walked away with a little over $46 net...10% coin eating machine fee!

Just weighed the rest of the coins. We're at 40+ lbs of silver people!   I'm guessing maybe two grand?   Plan to count these myself.

I ain't about to give up 10% of two grand!   Can ya' feel me?

A Bible for All!

This was posted in a special section of this Sunday's New York Times.   The section captured some of the Op Ed entries submitted to the Times over the past 40 years!   This one really grabbed me for obvious reasons!

"Those who speak for the religious right do not speak for all American Christians, and the Bible is not theirs alone to interpret.  The same Bible that the advocates of slavery used to protect their wicked self-interests is the Bible that inspired slaves to revolt and their liberators to action.

The same Bible that was used to keep white churches white is the source of the inspiration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the social reformation of the 1960s.

The same Bible that anti-feminists use to keep women silent in the churches is the Bible that preaches liberation to captives and says that in Christ there is neither male nor female, slave nor free.

And the same Bible that on the basis of an archaic social code of ancient Israel and a tortured reading of Paul is used to condemn all homosexuals and homosexual behavior includes metaphors of redemption, inclusion and love — principles that invite homosexuals to accept their freedom and responsibility in Christ and demand that their fellow Christians accept them as well.

In this summer of our discontent, one of the most precious freedoms for which we must all fight is freedom from this last prejudice."

PETER J. GOMES, an American Baptist minister, is a professor of Christian morals at Harvard.   This Op Ed was originally posted by PETER J. GOMES, on August 17, 1992

Amen!

College perspective as posted in the NY Times

I read this in this   Sunday's NY Times OP Ed page.   I was impressed.   It says so much.

"College is your chance to see what you’ve been missing, both in the outside world and within yourself.   Use this time to explore as much as you can.

Take classes in many different subjects before picking your major. Try lots of different clubs and activities.   Make friends with people who grew up much poorer than you, and others much richer.   Date someone of a different race or religion.   (And no, hooking up at a party doesn’t count.)   Spend a semester abroad or save up and go backpacking in Europe or Asia.

Somewhere in your childhood is a gaping hole.   Fill this hole.   Don’t know what classical music is all about?   That’s bad.   Don’t know who Lady Gaga is?   That’s worse.   If you were raised in a protected cocoon, this is the time to experience the world beyond.

College is also a chance to learn new things about yourself.   Never been much of a leader?   Try forming a club or a band.

The best things I did in college all involved explorations like this.   I was originally a theater major but by branching out and taking a math class I discovered I actually liked math, and I enjoyed hanging out with technical people.

By dabbling in leadership — I ran the math club and directed a musical — I learned how to formulate a vision and persuade people to join me in bringing it to life.   Now I’m planning to become an entrepreneur after graduate school.   It may seem crazy, but it was running a dinky club that set me on the path to seeing myself as someone who could run a business.

Try lots of things in college.   You never know what’s going to stick."

— TIM NOVIKOFF, Ph.D. student in applied mathematics at Cornell

Bishop Long...A Sinner?

Religion & Ignorance...not to mention Intolerance!

The combination of religion and ignorance is a poisonous elixir that scares the hell out of me.   This may sound like blasphemy to many folks who are friends and family...but I'm scared.   I think of all that is wrong with this world...not to mention this country (especially this country?)...and it all boils down to these two!   Think about it.

Then add intolerance to the mix...need I say more?

College Degrees

As posted on the the Huffington Post, according to the Lumina Foundation:

"The U.S. has fallen from first in the world in the proportion of adults that hold two- or four-year college degrees to fourth.   Even more worrisome is that, among young adults -- those between the ages of 25 and 34, the U.S. is no better than tied for 10th, and now trails nations in Asia, Europe and the Americas.   Each year for at least the past four, the U.S. has fallen in these comparisons.   In almost all other developed nations, attainment rates are increasing -- in many cases dramatically and to levels significantly above ours.   As a result, ours is one of the very few nations in the world in which younger adults are not better educated than older adults."

Interesting to note those states with the lowest percentage of college degrees.   Why am I not surprised?   There seems to be a pattern here.



Now you know this was coming!




Sorry about the red state / blue state notation.   This country is divided enough as it is!   Hey!   It is what it is!   Thanks teabaggers!

ten.thirty.ten!

• Rally to Restore Sanity!

• Keep Fear Alive!

nine-eleven

Burn Baby Burn!

God gave humans the truth, and the Devil came and said "Let's organize it, we'll call it religion!"
Deepak Chopra