Groundbreaking Pew Forum Religious Knowledge Study Features Stephen Prothero’s New York Times bestselling, RELIGIOUS LITERACY
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) September 29, 2010
The United States is one of the most religious places on earth, but it is also a nation of shocking religious illiteracy. We have a major civics education problem today, says religion scholar Stephen Prothero. His book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know – But Doesn’t, reveals what every American needs to know in order to confront the domestic and foreign challenges facing this country today.
Backed by the new findings in the Pew Forum survey, in his acclaimed book Prothero argues it is time to teach religion in American public schools. “Our national ignorance is staggering,” claims Prothero.
Consider this:
Most Americans cannot name the first book of the Bible
A mere 10 percent of American teenagers can name all five major world religions
Fifteen percent of American teenagers cannot name any of the major world religions
Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the Bible holds the answers to all or most of life’s basic questions, but only half of American adults can name even one of the four gospels
Unlike many who want to bring religion back into the public schools, Prothero has no theological, religious, or moral agenda. He argues on secular grounds that “Americans are not equipped for citizenship (or, for that matter, cocktail party conversation) without a basic understanding of Christianity and the world’s major religions.”
Complete with a dictionary of key beliefs, characters, and stories about Christianity, Islam, Judaism and the other major world religions, Religious Literacy is a provocative book that is generating an important national discussion.
Stephen Prothero is the author of the New York Times bestselling Religious Literacy and God Is Not One, and a professor of religion at Boston University. His work has been featured on the cover of Time magazine, Oprah, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, National Public Radio, and other top national media outlets. He writes and reviews for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Boston Globe, Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Salon, and other publications. He holds degrees in American Religion from Harvard and Yale and lives on Cape Cod. For more information, please visit http://www.stephenprothero.com.
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