Friday, March 25, 2005
Jesus wuz that religious bloke?
More than half of British people have no idea why Easter is celebrated, a survey revealed.
Just 48 per cent of some 1,000 adults questioned for the Reader's Digest Magazine poll correctly answered the resurrection of Christ.
Despite their lack of religious knowledge, the poll found 64 per cent of people quizzed believed in God and 58 per cent in an afterlife.
"Britons have a strong spiritual sense, with a majority expressing a belief in God and an afterlife, but they have little grasp of or interest in the basic tenets of Christianity," said Reader's Digest editor-in-chief Katherine Walker.
"Many people who would profess to be Christian know little more about the faith than they do about other world religions," she added.
On top of general ignorance about Christianity, the British public appeared ill-informed about the other five major faiths practised in the country.
Less than a quarter of adults associated the Torah with the Jewish faith, while only 40 per cent knew halal food was eaten by Muslims.
A mere 44 per cent correctly said the cow is sacred to Hindus and 41 per cent knew the Dalai Lama is Buddhists' spiritual leader.
As for which religion is associated with the turban - Sikhs - 56 per cent got the answer right.
The question that attracted the most right answers was: To whom did God give the 10 commandments, 64 per cent correctly said Moses.
Of 1001 adults surveyed, the average number of correct answers was five out of 10.
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