“We cannot make sense of the world without making sense of religion,” Dr. Stephen Prothero said during his lecture Friday evening at Marshall University. Dr. Prothero is a professor in the department of Religion at Boston University and the author of numerous books on religion. His recent book, God is Not One (2010), was the subject of the evening’s lecture, brought to us by the Marshall University Honors College with their 3rd annual Da Vinci lecture. More information about Dr. Prothero is available on his website, which can be found here.
While I fundamentally disagree with the many of the points raised by Dr. Prothero, his lecture was fantastic and I would encourage everyone to take advantage of any opportunity one may get to attend another such lecture. He is a very entertaining speaker who’s ideas are very thoughtful and thought-provoking which, if you are at all familiar with us here at Meanwhile in West Virginia, is what we are all about.
Dr. Prothero spoke about the issue of religious literacy, the subject of his book Religious Literacy, and “the eight rival religions” which is the subject of his book, God is Not One. Of the two issues, the matter of religious literacy is the one that rang the true to me. “Are you really educated if you don’t know the difference between a Sunni Islam and Shia Islam?” he asked.
Dr. Prothero advocated for mandatory religious education at the public school level, beyond the 2 weeks dedicated to it during World History classes. He pointed out that one area in which people in the United States are most ignorant, is the principle of Separation of Church and State. “Three quarters of the people surveyed in a Pew Forum study”, which he cited throughout his lecture, “incorrectly believed that religion cannot be taught in public schools.” It is against the law to exclusively preach or promote specific religions, but merely discussing and educating on the history of them is in no way against the law, something the Supreme Court has upheld time and again. He explained that in his classes at Boston University, he tests all of his students at the beginning of the course on basic religious history questions, such as “Who built the ark in the Bible?” “The average score on such tests,” he said, “is 50%.”
Which, if the reaction in the room is anything to go on, was surprising to many people who attended the lecture. This wasn’t that surprising to me, however to actually have my suspicions empirically confirmed was a bit saddening. As someone who enjoys learning about, discussing, and debating religion, I know very well how illiterate the majority of people are about the history of their own religion. Dr. Prothero discussed that, as one of the world’s most religious countries, we are the most ignorant country insofar as the history of those religions.
Which, when you think about it, is frightening.
Turn on Fox News, at some point during the next half-hour period, I can promise you that you will hear at least one person citing their religious beliefs or their religious scripture as the basis of their stance on some issue. From abortion to taxes, from healthcare to capital punishment, people are making the most important decisions affecting the lives of the average US citizen based on their understanding of their religious beliefs. (I am not picking on Fox News or Republicans, because this is in no way exclusive to the right. I merely selected Fox News because the usually devote majority of their coverage to the elections.)
.png "Religious Makeup of Congress")
Six out of 535 people in Congress “Don’t Know/Refused” in answer to their religious beliefs. If Dr. Prothero’s classes are a standard which we can extrapolate out to the rest of America, the average score on a religious literacy test in Congress would be around 50%. These people publicly cite religious beliefs as their major measuring stick in their decision-making, and they probably couldn’t pass a test about the very essence of their religion.
That is terrifying.
Of course, how many of them actually do that instead of just saying they do that is a little iffy. Dr. Prothero noted that political strategists have learned that there is a great deal to be gained by citing religion, but almost nothing to lose. This is because the media and the American public simply does not know enough about religion to question these politicians when they say something of this nature.
Therein lies the problem. Regardless of your religious affiliation or beliefs, these people in the highest offices in the world are either lying to all of us because we do not know enough to question or refute them, or are making decisions based on a statistically questionable understanding of their religious beliefs.
The majority of Americans derive their religious faith from that of their parents. This is a fact. From the day we are born we are taken to our parent’s church, where we usually remain. From the day we learn to understand language we are placed in Sunday schools or other faith’s equivalents. We often do not have a choice in what religion we follow, we have been brought up in it during the most crucial stages of our development. (Often, teenagers and young adults will rebel against this at some point and leave the church, but statistically they will almost always return or attend a similar church elsewhere). There is nothing wrong with this, because within just about every religion, there are crucial moral and ethical lessons that then become ingrained in our nature.
However, the problem is that in this system, we breed out any questioning. We believe this and follow this because it has become our reality. Simple as that. There is no more desire to question or research origins, because we would be questioning our very reality. Which is a terrifying prospect to just about anyone, an uncomfortable situation to find ourselves in. So we don’t. And in doing so, we do not learn the facts and the history which leads to these beliefs. It is no longer important to us. This is the way things are because this is the way they are.
Decipher from that what you will, but consider it food for thought.
(I’ll be writing another post on the other half of his lecture dealing with this later.)
I’m sorry I missed this lecture. I’ve read some of Prothero’s pieces on CNN’s religion blog. Not having been there, I can’t comment too much but I believe people do question faith, the origin of the universe, etc.
People privately question but they give up the pursuit because it is difficult to seek God and follow Him. We have grown so accustomed to creature comforts that we don’t understand that, as CS Lewis wrote, “We are in great distress.” Humanity presumes we don’t need God because we falsely think we can be fulfilled by this world. So society lives as they please and unknowingly wagers their souls that they’re correct.
The questioning is there … but quickly put on the backburner when Christianity tells them something contradictatory to their own desires. I speak in terms of Christianity because of my own beliefs in Jesus.
Oh and I never did like that “coexist” graphic. I’ve never known any same person who suggested otherwise. Haha
In my experience, people do not question whatsoever. They are taught not to question. To question is to doubt. To doubt is to lose belief. I was not talking about the “god” question. Or “THE” questions; “why are we here? What is our purpose? What is the meaning of life?” People do question that and use their beliefs to answer it.
I was referring to the “why do we believe this?” I’ve recently begun to attend church again and I can assure you that it is rare indeed to ask that question. Or the questions that stem from that. Which leads to the ignorance that exists that cannot be argued. It’s the same as any other historical subject. You know this to be true. What’s the average score on a basic American Political history test at the beginning of the year? You spent an entire year explaining how and why America operates the way it does.
The thinking in “things are the way they are because they are. We do this because its how things are done.” It doesn’t enter the consciousness to wonder, “why?”
You know this to be true.
And America is becoming more and more hyper religious each day. People are seeking God more than ever because of the recent chaotic events in the world. It just so happens that Christianity has been slipping and Islam has nearly doubled. Religion is becoming ever more prevalent, I point you to the extreme increase in fundamentalism.
None of this is bad. I do not disagree that our comforts make us ever more complacent. But that is a correlation without causation, in my opinion. The problem is more fundamental. Religion is no longer a right, something that we fought for the right to exercise. Religion is just who we are. I point you to voter participation among women and African Americans as a similarity.
As for the coexist, I can refer you to about 500 local Christian preachers who are completely sane and intelligent people who preach against the “heathens” and “terrorist Muslims.” I see bumper stickers every day proclaiming hatred for Muslims. I hear “I’ll coexist with them when they start speaking out against terrorism.” These people are sane. As same as you or I. So frankly I’d like to see this image absolutely everywhere. Like it or not we all share this planet and annihilating the other means annihilating ourselves. Shaheed and I have very different beliefs but are very good friends. I know people who wouldn’t speak to him if they knew he went to mosque.
Hey, Scalise, just curious what makes the Coexist graphic so disliked, I’ve heard many times how people just don’t like it but I never understood why. I can see how it may seem like it makes it look like all religions are in equal standing, but to me it was just a creative way of displaying a symbol of tolerance, basically that we all exist and if we want peace we need to tolerate each other and coexist.
Also, in case anyone misread or misinterpreted this: I am not denouncing anything about Sunday school or religion or anything else whatsoever. That’s not the problem. Instead, I am actually agreeing with Dr. Prothero that some sort of extensive, in depth, mandatory public school education in the subject of the world religions. As he said, “Are you really educated if you do not know the difference between Sunni and Shia?” In today’s world, the answer is no. And in lieu of education into that, such ignorance can quickly be turned into something dangerous.
Ignorance breeds hatred.
Also, in case anyone misread or misinterpreted this: I am not denouncing anything about Sunday school or religion or anything else whatsoever. That’s not the problem. Instead, I am actually agreeing with Dr. Prothero that some sort of extensive, in depth, mandatory public school education in the subject of the world religions. As he said, “Are you really educated if you do not know the difference between Sunni and Shia?” In today’s world, the answer is no. And in lieu of education into that, such ignorance can quickly be turned into something dangerous.
Ignorance breeds hatred.
James,
If you’re attending a church where you aren’t encouraged to ask questions, I would encourage you to seek out a church that does. The local pastors of churches you’re probably talking about are people who aren’t effectively researching God’s word.
Biblically, I don’t know how these pastors can justify their actions. While Christians are called to be on the lookout for false teachers, that doesn’t give license to hate. We are called to make rational judgements about the actions of others, but not to judge them, which isn’t what most people believe it to be.
These local pastors may be ‘sane’, but I would challenge them Biblically on their principles. I don’t agree with Shaheed on many issues, and I would expect he’d say the same about me. However, I don’t find any reason why he and I, or anyone else can’t ‘coexist’.
Also, how much exposure have you had to a faith community beyond the local churches of this area. People question all the time, but they don’t bring it up for the same reasons you may not.
Ammar, with respect to your question, I dislike that graphic because I believe the overwhelming number of Americans already ‘coexist’ peacefully. West Virginia is probably short of that norm, though. I coexist with people constantly even though I find their religious beliefs to be flawed, or even strange.
James,
If you’re attending a church where you aren’t encouraged to ask questions, I would encourage you to seek out a church that does. The local pastors of churches you’re probably talking about are people who aren’t effectively researching God’s word.
Biblically, I don’t know how these pastors can justify their actions. While Christians are called to be on the lookout for false teachers, that doesn’t give license to hate. We are called to make rational judgements about the actions of others, but not to judge them, which isn’t what most people believe it to be.
These local pastors may be ‘sane’, but I would challenge them Biblically on their principles. I don’t agree with Shaheed on many issues, and I would expect he’d say the same about me. However, I don’t find any reason why he and I, or anyone else can’t ‘coexist’.
Also, how much exposure have you had to a faith community beyond the local churches of this area. People question all the time, but they don’t bring it up for the same reasons you may not.
Ammar, with respect to your question, I dislike that graphic because I believe the overwhelming number of Americans already ‘coexist’ peacefully. West Virginia is probably short of that norm, though. I coexist with people constantly even though I find their religious beliefs to be flawed, or even strange.
In my experience, people do not question whatsoever. They are taught not to question. To question is to doubt. To doubt is to lose belief. I was not talking about the “god” question. Or “THE” questions; “why are we here? What is our purpose? What is the meaning of life?” People do question that and use their beliefs to answer it.
I was referring to the “why do we believe this?” I’ve recently begun to attend church again and I can assure you that it is rare indeed to ask that question. Or the questions that stem from that. Which leads to the ignorance that exists that cannot be argued. It’s the same as any other historical subject. You know this to be true. What’s the average score on a basic American Political history test at the beginning of the year? You spent an entire year explaining how and why America operates the way it does.
The thinking in “things are the way they are because they are. We do this because its how things are done.” It doesn’t enter the consciousness to wonder, “why?”
You know this to be true.
And America is becoming more and more hyper religious each day. People are seeking God more than ever because of the recent chaotic events in the world. It just so happens that Christianity has been slipping and Islam has nearly doubled. Religion is becoming ever more prevalent, I point you to the extreme increase in fundamentalism.
None of this is bad. I do not disagree that our comforts make us ever more complacent. But that is a correlation without causation, in my opinion. The problem is more fundamental. Religion is no longer a right, something that we fought for the right to exercise. Religion is just who we are. I point you to voter participation among women and African Americans as a similarity.
As for the coexist, I can refer you to about 500 local Christian preachers who are completely sane and intelligent people who preach against the “heathens” and “terrorist Muslims.” I see bumper stickers every day proclaiming hatred for Muslims. I hear “I’ll coexist with them when they start speaking out against terrorism.” These people are sane. As same as you or I. So frankly I’d like to see this image absolutely everywhere. Like it or not we all share this planet and annihilating the other means annihilating ourselves. Shaheed and I have very different beliefs but are very good friends. I know people who wouldn’t speak to him if they knew he went to mosque.
Hey, Scalise, just curious what makes the Coexist graphic so disliked, I’ve heard many times how people just don’t like it but I never understood why. I can see how it may seem like it makes it look like all religions are in equal standing, but to me it was just a creative way of displaying a symbol of tolerance, basically that we all exist and if we want peace we need to tolerate each other and coexist.