America gets an F in Religion

Every once in a while a secular magazine publishes an article about religion that is worth reading. This week’s U.S. News & World Report, April 9, 2007, page 28 has an interview with Stephen Prothero entitled, “In America, an F in Religion.” Prothero, head of the department of religion at Boston University, laments that while America is the most religious country in the world, it has the lowest religious literacy. Even though 9 out of 10 believe in God, or some divine being, and two thirds believe the Bible is a source of answers for every day life, only half can name even one of the four Gospels and only 10% of teenagers can name the five major world religions.

America used to be the most religiously literate country in the world, with churches, schools, homes, Sunday schools, colleges, and Bible and tract societies all educating the public about Christianity and religion. The change started in the 19th century when religious groups couldn’t agree about which version of the Bible to use in public education.

The second major reason is the decline in Biblical education within American churches. When Evangelicals began to dominate America’s religious scene in the 19th century, they focused on experience at the expense of learning and reason. Before the rise of Evangelicalism, sermons focused on Biblical narratives and doctrine, while after sermons tended to focus on personal piety and religious self-help topics. By focusing on experience and emotion Evangelicalism was the major force in the decline of biblical knowledge and religious education. Text book companies try to stay away from controversial topics in order to sell their books in as many school districts as possible. So, while we tend to blame the atheists and secularists for the decline in religious literacy, the main culprit is the church.

Prothero feels that the Bible and world religions should be taught in the public schools in order to educate the public about religion. Because religious issues are at the core of many of the issues we face in our world today, we can’t afford to be ignorant about religion. I think Prothero is right on target.


You can read this article at: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070401/9qa.htm