In religion, ignorance is not necessarily bliss

Dennis Roberts
Published: June 13, 2008

Some of us may chuckle when we read about a poll or survey that indicates how Americans seem to know very little about religion.
We hear that 10 percent of Americans think that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife or Moses went to Mount Cyanide to get the 10 Commandments (which, of course, most cannot name) or the epistles were the wives of the apostles or that most Americans cannot name the first book of the Bible.
This lack of basic knowledge is even more glaring when one moves from the Jewish and Christian traditions to questions about Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and others. However, this religious illiteracy is no laughing matter. It can be deadly.
G. K. Chesterton once observed that ours is “a nation with the soul of a church.” It has also been noted that Americans may be very religious, but know next to nothing about religion. Pollster George Gallup characterized the United States as “a nation of biblical illiterates.”
Religious illiteracy makes it difficult for many – if not most – Americans to make sense of a world in which some people kill and others seek to make peace in the name of religion. This lack of basic religious knowledge – reaching even into the higher, policy-making echelons of our federal government – makes it all the easier for the general population to be swayed by demagogic voices. Certainly, since the tragic events of Sept. 11, circumstances in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and other global hot spots should have brought home to Americans the relevance of religion to world affairs, our need to be better informed and the importance of finding common ground for working together.
There is a glimmer of hope on the international horizon. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced recently the formation of The Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which is envisioned as a vehicle through which different religious faiths can work cooperatively to address some of the world’s pressing challenges. He has expressed a desire to rescue faith from the dual challenges of irrelevance and extremism. He wants to create an environment in which faith traditions can encounter one another “through action“ as well as dialogue.
Blair said in a New York speech, “Globalization is pushing people together. Interdependence is reality. Peaceful co-existence is essential. If faith becomes a countervailing force, pulling people apart, it becomes destructive and dangerous.
“If, by contrast, it becomes an instrument of peaceful co-existence, teaching people to live with difference, to treat diversity as a strength, to respect ‘the other,’ then faith becomes an important part of making the 21st century work. It enriches, it informs, it provides a common basis of values and belief for people to get along together.”
It is important that we, as Americans, work to increase our basic knowledge of the major religious traditions because a well-educated electorate is crucial, not only for our representative democracy, but for responsible world citizenship as well.
What are the sacred texts of other major world religions? Significant holidays? What are Islam’s Five Pillars, the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism or the 10 Commandments? What are the sacraments for Roman Catholics? For Protestants? 
It is also crucial that we move beyond knowledge and dialogue to action, working side by side to break down barriers in order to help a world in need. Tony Blair may be a player on the world stage, but each of us has a role to play here in our local communities, our Commonwealth and our nation. Will we be counted among the literate or the
illiterate?