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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
 Posted - 03/08/2007 : 13:48:12 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by pleco
Targeted to an American and therefore mostly Christian audience - you can't expect christians to actually learn another religions edicts - they might get turned to the Dark Side.
Hell, Id be thrilled if they would bother to learn about their own religions. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2007 : 14:05:55 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Siberia
Hah! I got higher (80). Eat my theological dust!
Well, I tied you, and you had the disadvantage of having to answer a 2-point question dealing with the U.S. constitution.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 03/08/2007 14:06:51 |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
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leoofno
Skeptic Friend
USA
346 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2007 : 14:32:56 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by H. Humbert
quote:
Originally posted by Siberia
Hah! I got higher (80). Eat my theological dust!
Well, I tied you, and you had the disadvantage of having to answer a 2-point question dealing with the U.S. constitution.
To my shame, as an ex-Catholic I only remembered 5 of the 7 sacraments.
(On the brighter side, I was able to overcome my first impulse to associate "Road to Damascus" with Bob Hope/Bing Crosby) |
"If you're not terrified, you're not paying attention." Eric Alterman
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2007 : 16:52:29 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Hawks
I scored a whopping 34. That would probably be an F in ANY scoring system.
Did you multiply the points by 2 to get a maximum score of 100? |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2007 : 16:57:12 [Permalink]
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I scored 66.
I was thinking about putting down "Do not covet..." but figured that was the same as thieving and adultery, so I did't. Lost 4 points there.
I nailed the constitution points, though I thought the two of them were only one. The inaguration of Bush question is one I should have been able to figure out, even though I didn't know about it: the question providing a clue to the answer. But I was too hasty and didn't think it through which lead to the wrong answer.
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Hawks
SFN Regular
Canada
1383 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2007 : 17:37:00 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
quote:
Originally posted by Hawks
I scored a whopping 34. That would probably be an F in ANY scoring system.
Did you multiply the points by 2 to get a maximum score of 100?
Yep. |
METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL
It's a small, off-duty czechoslovakian traffic warden! |
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cactusmush
New Member
21 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2007 : 19:34:49 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by BigPapaSmurf
Thats a BS test like 4 points were dedicated to non-judeo-christian religion.
I concur with Papa. The Q's for Christians and Jews are detailed. The Q's for the other religions are token. Non Jewish & non Christian test takers would have been at a significant disadvantage. As such it is not so much an "F for religion" as in an "F in Judeo/Christian religion knowledge test sprinkled with token Multi-cultural questions so we can superficially appear balanced..."
According to the article .. "50% of high school seniors think Sodom and Gomorrah were married..." This is a riot. I know that Minneapolis and St. Paul were married ...but Sodom and Gomorrah???
As a point of caution though, I would like to see the original question and multiple choice answers to that. Some question and answer choices are worded to bait silly answers for the reason of attracting press. Advocacy Pollsters use that tactic all the time. I can see no link to the test that is the basis for the Sodom and Gomorrah result. This is USA today so I am not surprised at that. Nor am I surprised that they show a frame from a Hollywood movie next to the headline (as if Hollywood movies are a solution to the shortfalls in our knowledge of religion).
Let me return to tactics in exams, surveys and poll questions, if only for discourse. Example of such a tactic in Polls, Questions and Surveys destined for press release, promotion, or special interest group advocacy..
Jeb Stuart was:
a) An American Astronaut, the 4th person to walk on the moon
b) A 19th Century English Philosopher and "classical" liberal
c) A Confederate General and war hero
Let's say 40% of our admittedly underwhelming Senior H.S. students pick answer a)
The headline: "40% of American Students think Confederate General walked on the moon!!" This is true...but one has salted answers with elements of humor that are not necessary to the test.
A less sensational version of the same question would contain these answers
a) An American Astronaut
b) A 19th Century English Philosopher
c) A Confederate General
And a duller headline/hook even with the same poor answer rate.
In reference to the Sodom and Gomorrah question and answer...the married element of the answer was not necessary to the question ...but it effect is to uplift the humor element of the exam result and this makes for a better hook for the press.
Let me illustrate...
In biblical times Sodom and Gomorrah were:
a) A married couple described in the book of Genesis within the Old Testament
b) Two cities described in the Old Testament
c) They were two Egyptian tribes encountered in the Old Testament
Versus
a) Two people described in the Old Testament
b) Two cities described in the Old Testament
c) They were two tribes described in the Old Testament
The second set of answers is all that is necessary for the test. But these wrong answers are less exciting and the wrong answers have no element of absurdity other than that the answers are wrong.
Having said all that...no matter what the wording...50% is a poor tally notwithstanding my commentary above.
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2007 : 03:54:03 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Hawks
I scored a whopping 34. That would probably be an F in ANY scoring system.
You do know you were supposed to double your score, right?
I got 66 but not being a Catholic, I lost 7 points there, doubled that would have given me 80.
So who was it that decided these were "the" questions we should be judged by? The whole thing is rather presumptuous.
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2007 : 05:04:39 [Permalink]
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| According to the blurb at the bottom of the quiz, the questions were selected from the book Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't. We can imagine that the actual quiz in the book is more comprehensive and probably worded in a less sensationalistic way (as cactusmush rightly noted). The short quiz put together by USA Today certainly has no real scientific value and is just trivia pure and simple. I posted it in part for fun, and in part so people might also think about the point of the article-- that in this country where some not insignificant portion clamors for a virtual theocracy, most of its citizens (including, I'd wager, said clamorers) are woefully ignorant of the specifics of the major religions practices here. |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2007 : 00:16:54 [Permalink]
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I'm not sure why I need to know some of that stuff. A more general knowledge of different religions, yes, but some Bible trivia and the names of chapters? I knew those but can't see it had particular value other than a measure of exposure to the text. You still have to wonder "who" is deciding what "we should know".
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cactusmush
New Member
21 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2007 : 02:42:35 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
I'm not sure why I need to know some of that stuff. A more general knowledge of different religions, yes, but some Bible trivia and the names of chapters? I knew those but can't see it had particular value other than a measure of exposure to the text. You still have to wonder "who" is deciding what "we should know".
That is one way of looking at it. A good point.
The tests were on HS Kids (seniors). From an atheists viewpoint, is it not a good sign that their test scores are so poor? Wouldn't that just be a manifestation of increased secularism in our High Schools? How many truly secularized kids would be exposed to the knowledge necessary to achieve better test results? Do we want secular kids in public HS exposed to increased teachings of religion noting that each additional minute spent on general religion as a topic is one less minute spent on a topic of greater educational worth?
Let us imagine the test was on general knowledge of UFO's or Astrology. In such a situation I would be alarmed if the test scores were high.
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cactusmush
New Member
21 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2007 : 02:51:33 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by cactusmush
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
I'm not sure why I need to know some of that stuff. A more general knowledge of different religions, yes, but some Bible trivia and the names of chapters? I knew those but can't see it had particular value other than a measure of exposure to the text. You still have to wonder "who" is deciding what "we should know".
That is one way of looking at it. A good point.
The tests were on HS Kids (seniors). From an atheists viewpoint, is it not a good sign that their test scores are so poor? Wouldn't that just be a manifestation of increased secularism in our High Schools? How many truly secularized kids would be exposed to the knowledge necessary to achieve better test results? Do we want secular kids in public HS exposed to increased teachings of religion noting that each additional minute spent on general religion as a topic is one less minute spent on a topic of greater educational worth?
Let us imagine the test was on general knowledge of UFO's or Astrology. In such a situation I would be alarmed if the test scores were high.
I need to chase my own post with a qualifier. The increased secularization is not so much in the schools themselves...as it is in society. Public schools are supposed to be secular by nature (sep. of Church/State...and all that jazz). Despite having to fight the good fight against local or state level initiatives to teach ID/Creationism...the schools remain generally secular. Trends in decreased religious knowledge would be a manifestation of increased secularization within our society. |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2007 : 06:11:33 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
I'm not sure why I need to know some of that stuff. A more general knowledge of different religions, yes, but some Bible trivia and the names of chapters? I knew those but can't see it had particular value other than a measure of exposure to the text. You still have to wonder "who" is deciding what "we should know".
But we could say that about a lot of things, right? I'd say that having a certain level of knowledge about the Bible (esp. for Western societies) is culturally important, just as is knowing something about Shakespeare, the Louisiana Purchase, or the Big Bang. (For fun, more tests!) |
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pleco
SFN Addict
USA
2998 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2007 : 06:43:02 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by cactusmush
The tests were on HS Kids (seniors). From an atheists viewpoint, is it not a good sign that their test scores are so poor?
To me, I think that people should be aware of the teachings of different religions and philosophies. Makes for a more well-rounded person. Doesn't mean you have to get converted.
Plus, the more you know about the Bible, the less likely you are to become a convert, IMHO.  |
by Filthy
The neo-con methane machine will soon be running at full fart. |
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Religious Test
