Amos, how does that position explain the fairly good results for Mormons?

Even if someone believes they have the answers, is there value in understanding what others (with different answers) believe their answers are? I think it's clear that there are curious faithful and non-curious faithful.

I find it an interesting report, but I'd like to see more of the data. I wonder if more will be forthcoming.

The key published analyses in the report are here:
- Who Knows What About Religion
- Factors Linked With Religious Knowledge

They did a multiple regression analysis to tease apart different factors and found that while education had a strong effect, if you held education constant, you get the result that got the headlines.

To address my question at the top (about the Mormons), what I'd like to see from the data is the relative education levels for different flavors of faith, and also geography. Blacks and Hispanics scored low -- certainly education could be a factor there.

There was a correlation between active religious study (as opposed to just going to church) and correct answers on the survey. The Mormon result might tie in with this, from what I understand of Mormon practice.

And inasmuch as the quantity or quality of education is related to poverty, it's interesting to look at the Gallup report at the end of August on a world survey (114 countries) of "religiosity" (= "is religion an important part of your daily life?") which found that "religiosity is highest in the world's poorest nations" (link).

However, the U.S. was one of a few rich countries that bucked that trend. NY Times Columnist Charles Blow made a great graphic in that charted religiosity against GDP per capita, grouping countries by their size and dominant religions. Unfortunately, the picture doesn't come up with the Op-Ed column. I've made an inquiry to see about getting it back up.

Jews also performed relatively well. Although they asked questions that provide the data on whether Jews identified themselves as more observant or more cultural (and less observant), they don't distinguish the results of these two groups. I would think that geography and education would be well-entangled with Jewishness in the U.S.

~ Becky in Long Beach

P.S. to Crow Sister: just because it's a discussion on Mudcat doesn't mean it has to be a "debate", does it?