Let's talk about religion! I saw one religion thread where they started off with saying their religion and their beliefs. I don't think that's necessary, but it's probably a good way to get ideas out there and help get rid of misunderstandings or bad rumors.
I'm a Mormon/member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS).
To start off:
Alladinsane wrote: the average Christian knows far more about Christianity than any agno-atheist just as the average Islamic knows the Holy Koran better and the average Jew knows the Torah. Most/many of us of faith study our own particular theological documents on a regular basis and can display a greater familiarity with those writings. We tend not to know, in general, as much about other theologies, its never really been an option unless we might have some questioning of our own faith or are merely curious imo. So we are, in general, comparing the 'jack of all trades' in agnosti-atheism who may have a broader knowledge of the surface of alot of faiths, to the specialist in a particular faith who (ideally) knows what he/she believes and exactly why.
"the average Christian knows far more" According to who? I think that "ideally" makes a big difference. The thing is, there's plenty of Christians who don't go to church or study scriptures much. Perhaps it's what they grew up with, or they just like the Christ idea and see all His great influence, so they "believe" in him and call themselves Christians. Many current Atheists and Agnostics may have been Christians in the past. We're all humans, no matter what religion, so we have the same capacity to learn, more or less, and I think it makes sense that Atheists and Agnostics would have studied in order to pick their position in religion. With all the religious influence, you'd probably need to have a good religious knowledge in order to not join one of the sides. And perhaps they're trying to find what's right themselves. On the Pew survey taken this year, Atheists and Agnostics still knew more about Christianity and the Bible than all the Christian categories except for White Evangelicals and Mormons. Were the questions more about "general" Christianity? Perhaps so.
Something else worth noting, on the literacy test taken by okcupid, agnostics and especially atheists were high, and protestants and catholics were low. It doesn't necessarily mean that the religions themselves are bad, but it's evidence that the type of people that go questioning religion are intelligent. I mean, if you think about it, if you believe your religion is the one right religion, wouldn't it be understandable that people who aren't in your religion (especially agnostics) aren't in another one either? Perhaps their just searching for what's right. That's one reason why I have an especial respect for agnostics and atheists, though at the same time I see a lot of good in other religions as well.
BrentW wrote:Mormons have the funnest.
I don't take offence, but I'm curious as to what you mean.