Asleep at the Wheel, part 2: Religious literacy

Zenith has posted a rather alarming article concerning religious literacy. First of all , the study showed that throughout Europe, Christianity is the largest religious sect, however, less than half of the Christian population attend church services. Most of those who do attend are in the older generation of 60+.

Boston University professor Stephen Prothero ran a similar study in the United States which revealed a much larger church attendance than in any other western country, but we suffer badly in religious knowledge. Twenty million Bibles are sold in this country, but rarely opened. Basic facts such as the names of the Gospels, the Ten Commandments, the names of the apostles are lacking.

"Prothero warns that religious illiteracy is more dangerous than other forms
of ignorance, given religion's important role in culture and as a force in the
world. Whether we want to understand the past, or contemporary debates ranging
from bioethics to foreign policy, we need to have some knowledge of religion."

Where is the blame for this illiteracy? Academic circles tend to be non-religious and rather skeptical when it comes to religious issues, textbooks and classes tend to leave out religion.

"Churches too have played a part. Religious education in recent decades in
many of the Christian denominations has left a lot to be desired, favoring the
touchy-feely over imparting a solid knowledge of the Bible and doctrine. Parents
also come in for criticism from Prothero, for not instructing their children
sufficiently in religion."

"You need religious literacy in order to be an effective citizen," Dr. Prothero says. To be an effective citizen, you need to know your roots, where democracy came from, who originally wrote laws, who founded the first higher education institution.

This is serious, folks. We have children that need to know God and our Lord, Jesus Christ. They need to know exactly what faith is all about, what all the hubbub about Christ dying on the cross for us is all about. The Ten Commandments? This is silly that Christians don't know these, much less the names of the 4 Gospels! I have always said that religious education has been watered down severely during the past decade and the "touchy-feely" programs need to go!

Parents need to be knowledgeable about their faith, I know dozens of parents that are Catholic, but don't know why, and they are responsible for the next generation! Talk about the blind leading the blind! It's time that we started demanding that parents have continuing education, and parishes provide it. As parents, our main objective for our children is NOT that they have a great education, career, and a good salary. It is to get them to Heaven for eternity. I know that this is a novel idea to some, but it shouldn't be.