{"id":12330,"date":"2007-04-07T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-07T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/2007\/04\/07\/writer-decries-americans-ignorance-of-religion\/"},"modified":"2007-04-07T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-04-07T12:00:00","slug":"writer-decries-americans-ignorance-of-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/2007\/04\/07\/writer-decries-americans-ignorance-of-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"Writer Decries Americans’ Ignorance Of Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"

www.southcoasttoday.com<\/a><\/p>\n

UNITED STATES, April 6, 2007: America purports to be a religious nation, yet what Americans know about religion is, well, sinful. In his new book, “Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know–And Doesn’t,” Stephen Prothero, head of Boston University’s religion department, says it’s time to teach religion in America–not devotion, but religion. Prothero and others have found a shocking lack of knowledge about the religions to which Americans purport to belong, bested only by their ignorance of religions to which they don’t belong. Surveys say only half of America’s adults can name any of the four Gospels. Most Americans can’t name the first book of the Bible. Yet, writes Prothero, world events have been shaped by religious ideas. <\/p>\n

In this country, Christianity, in particular, has migrated from doctrinal and narrative components to a focus on religious experience that doesn’t appear to require a knowledge of the Scriptures, says Prothero. “Being a Christian has become synonymous with having a born-again experience or opposing abortion and stem-cell research,” he said. <\/p>\n

“In his research, Prothero said he was surprised to learn that the U.S. government pays little attention to religion when forming foreign policy. For example, Prothero said, “U.S. ambassadors to Muslim-majority countries are typically political cronies who have no training in Islam. And there is no policy of having our ambassador to India, say, know something about Hinduism. This is a scandal. The problem is not hypocrisy, says Prothero, so much as ignorance. He suggests religion be added as the fourth “R” in American education. After all, Prothero says, the Constitution doesn’t prohibit teaching about religion. It bans teaching a particular religion. <\/p>\n

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