The New York Times
When it comes to religion, most Americans are deeply ignorant. So says the new poll from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Sadly, it's not that surprising to me. We are a "religious" people. Many of us would say we are "spiritual." We go to church or some other form of weekly gathering. We worship, fellowship, get "filled up" and then go on our merry way. But are we so caught up in practicing our faith we forget the fundamentals about The Bible, about Jesus, about other religions? How are we ever supposed to intelligently speak to someone about the differences in what we believe if a question about Ramadan leaves us perplexed or the only Joseph Smith we can remember is our favorite teller at the bank?
I am definitely not advocating a departure from the intimate, personal faith walk to a cold fact and figure based knowledge that could rival the Pharisees. I think it is concerning however, that we could say we are a religious people and not know or remember who the father of the Protestant Reformation was. How are we to understand what it means to be Christian, understand our own faith walk, understand the heart and power of our Heavenly Father if we don't understand how deeply intertwined faith and history are? To know where we are going, we have to understand where we have come -- as a religion, as a race, as a country.
Not only did the New York Times article on this poll report that most people could answer only half the questions correctly (and most flubbed up questions on their own faith), but those who scored the highest were atheists and agnostics. This excerpt from the NY Times article makes me cringe . . .
That finding might surprise some, but not Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists, an advocacy group for nonbelievers that was founded by Madalyn Murray O’Hair.
“I have heard many times that atheists know more about religion than religious people,” Mr. Silverman said. “Atheism is an effect of that knowledge, not a lack of knowledge. I gave a Bible to my daughter. That’s how you make atheists.”
"Atheism is an effect of that knowledge [religious knowledge], not a lack" . . . Silverman says. And like a slap in the face to Christianity, the way to make an Atheist? Give them a Bible. I don't pretend to understand the heart of one who says there is no God when all around them are the imaginative Creator's fingerprints. I do believe though, that the Bible holds the key to Truth - whether one accepts it or not. As Christians, we believe the Bible to be the definitive Word of God. As we know and study it, our eyes are opened and our heart is softened. Our obligation is to know the Bible, to study it, to hide its words in our hearts. Why? To use it - to use it against the lies and deceit of the enemy who says there is no God. It is not only the Bible, though, that enables us to put into words our faith in a personal Savior. What was it about the Roman Catholic faith that Martin Luther found ultimately empty? What was his soul yearning for that couldn't be satisfied with works or penance or tradition? History and a knowledge about how religion has played a part can and should be our teacher too.
Modern Christianity vilifies the term "religious" in favor of "spiritual" or "Christ-follower." Have we thrown the baby out with the bathwater? Isn't it our obligation as "Christ-followers" to know and understand "religion" too?
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