|
Religious literacy key
to civic participation, global understanding
 |
|
Stephen
Prothero addresses a crowd of 200
at MU on Sept. 7, 2007.
|
Sept. 7, 2007
- Stephen Prothero is not a minister or
a theologian. But he is the author of a
bestselling book, "Religious Literacy:
What Every American Needs to Know - And
Doesn't." Prothero addressed a crowd
of more than 200 people on Sept. 7, 2007,
at a lecture on "Religious Literacy
and American Politics."
The event was hosted by
the MU Center on Religion & the Professions
and kicked off a yearlong schedule of events
on religion and politics. It was held in
the Reynolds Alumni Center at University
of Missouri-Columbia.
After the lecture, Prothero
answered questions, talked with audience
members and signed copies of his book.
 |
|
Prothero
signs copies of his book after the
lecture.
|
In his lecture, he talked
about history, the problem of religious
illiteracy and some solutions.
"The U.S. is one of
the most religious countries, but Americans
don't know much about religion," said
Prothero, who is chair of Boston University's
Department of Religion. This is ironic,
considering "(according to surveys)
95 percent of people (in the U.S.) believe
in God or a higher power," he added.
"Most believe the Bible is the word
of God."
Prothero also cited a survey
of his own students at Boston University
and other surveys.
"Most surveys done
on religion are about what they believe
or what they do," he said. "But
very rarely are they about what they know."
What they don't know is surprising, he said.
 |
|
Guests
mingle at a reception following Prothero's
lecture, hosted by the Center on Religion
& the Professions.
|
"Most Americans cannot
name a single one of the Gospels,"
Prothero said. "Half cannot name Genesis
as a book of the Bible."
Many students surveyed
could not name Hinduism or Buddhism as major
religions of the world, he added.
It is important to know
about religion in American civic life to
understand its influence on politics in
the United States and abroad; including
issues such as foreign policy and stem-cell
research, the environment, capital punishment
or the lottery, Prothero said.
 |
|
More
than 30 copies of Prothero's book,
"Religious Literacy: What Every
American Needs to Know - And Doesn't"
were sold in association with the
event.
|
"It is difficult to
find an issue where religious reasoning
is not being used (for or against),"
Prothero said. Searching the Congressional
Record, one can find many religious arguments
made on the floor the House of Representatives
and Senate, he said. Most are Christian
and biblical, he said.
Another example that makes
"this depth of religious literacy more
palpable," includes the fact that at
one point in recent years only six of 1,000
employees working in the U.S. Embassy in
Iraq could speak Arabic, Prothero said.
"We don't know anything
about religion, and it imperils us at home
and abroad," he said.
Prothero traced much of
this lack of knowledge to a historical shift
during the Second Great Awakening (1880-1830s)
in the United States, when there was a shift
"from intellect to feeling," in
how people understood and experienced religion
- "a shift from doctrine and narrative
to morality." Religious institutions
began to depend more on sermons than scripture,
he said.
 |
|
Prothero
speaks with a guest following his
lecture on "Religious Literacy
and American Politics."
|
That was only part of a
shift that has downplayed the distinctiveness
of religions and denominations; and removed
knowledge of ones' religious traditions
and those of others from the canon that
makes up core knowledge, he said.
A solution to today's religious
illiteracy would be to have academic study
of the Bible and the world's religions be
mandatory in high school and higher education,
Prothero said.
Joan Eisenstark of Columbia
came to hear Prothero's presentation after
being impressed by his appearance on C-Span.
She was thankful for the opportunity to
see him locally, she said.
Isaac Francisco, a staff
member at University of Missouri-Columbia,
described the lecture as a "smart,
necessary, timely presentation."
Prothero's lecture was
one of several 2007-08 events sponsored
by the Center on Religion & the Professions
on a theme of "Religion & Politics."
Events include lectures, faculty forums
and a film series.
More about Prothero:
• Read
article in The Maneater
• Read
article in The Missourian
Read articles in MyMissourian:
• "Speech
on Religious Ignorance"
• "Is
America Religiously Ignorant?"
|
