Atheists, agnostics know more about religion than believers, finds US survey

LOS ANGELES - A new survey, which measured Americans’ knowledge of religion, has found that atheists and agnostics knew more than followers of most major faiths.ccording to the survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, a majority of Protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the driving force behind the Protestant Reformation.

It also revealed that four in 10 Catholics misunderstood the meaning of their church’s central ritual, incorrectly saying that the bread and wine used in Holy Communion are intended to merely symbolize the body and blood of Christ, not actually become them.

It said that atheists and agnostics - those who believe there is no God or who are not sure - were more likely to answer the survey’s questions correctly.

Jews and Mormons ranked just below them in the survey’s measurement of religious knowledge.

Talking about survey, Alan Cooperman, associate director for research, said that American atheists and agnostics tend to be people who grew up in a religious tradition and consciously gave it up, often after a great deal of reflection and study.

“These are people who thought a lot about religion. They’re not indifferent. They care about it,” The Los Angeles Times quoted Cooperman, as saying.

The survey further found that eight in 10 people knew that Mother Teresa was Catholic, while seven in 10 knew that Moses led the exodus from Egypt and that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. (ANI)