Are you smarter than an atheist? A religious quiz

[nclib]

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0105/Are-you-smarter-than-an-atheist-A-religious-quiz/When-does-the-Jewish-Sabbath-begin

Ironic that Atheists and Agnostics get the highest scores on this quiz.

I got 23 out of 32 (72%).

[anvi]

Well, I'm an atheist and got 100%.  But it's an easy quiz.

[John Dibble]

Well, I am an atheist, so I guess no? Or maybe yes? I did better than most other atheists.

I got 30 out of 32 (94%) correct. I got question 1 wrong (I knew which one it definitely wasn't at least) and just didn't even know the answer to question 20.

[RI]

31/32. I got all of them except the one about Maimonides, who I hadn't heard of.

[justfollowingtheelections]

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0105/Are-you-smarter-than-an-atheist-A-religious-quiz/When-does-the-Jewish-Sabbath-begin

Ironic that Atheists and Agnostics get the highest scores on this quiz.

I got 23 out of 32 (72%).

Why is it ironic?  Non-religious people in most cases have researched many religions and realized that they're all fairytales.  If God or whatever really exists, we are probably not capable of comprehending it.

[The Mikado]

32/32.  It's a bit unfair to people that they refer to Rambam as Maimonides rather than Moses Maimonides, like he's usually called.  The first name is a good giveaway.  (The part of me that went through Jewish religious education when I was younger will always think of him as Rambam, which has the added benefit of being easier to spell than Maimonides)

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

32/32. I made a guess on Maimonides based on how the name sounded and process of elimination.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The first question is a bot tricky depending on what you define as the starting point of a 'day'.  If you start a day a midnight, then the answer they want is correct, but if you start it at sundown, it's incorrect.

[Tokugawa Sexgod Ieyasu]

32/32. I know who Maimonides is.

I tend not to like or trust people who denigrate fairy tales very much.

[DC Al Fine]

32/32 I guessed on Maimonedes though.

[Redalgo]

I got 29 out of 32 on this one (91%), though if not for multiple choice answers I'd have probably missed another two or three. Several of the questions were very easy, while a few others were definitely not so much.

[CatoMinor]

I got 100% correct.

[Mehmentum]

29/32.  I'm an atheist for the record.

[DC Al Fine]

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0105/Are-you-smarter-than-an-atheist-A-religious-quiz/When-does-the-Jewish-Sabbath-begin

Ironic that Atheists and Agnostics get the highest scores on this quiz.

I got 23 out of 32 (72%).

Why is it ironic?  Non-religious people in most cases have researched many religions and realized that they're all fairytales.  If God or whatever really exists, we are probably not capable of comprehending it.

Do you really believe that 10%+ of Americans have sat down and researched all the major religions?

[bgwah]

27/32


The religious questions (not the demographic, historical or terminology ones) seemed very disproportionately about Christianity. A Christian or ex-Christian (most Atheists) would probably do best, on average.

[Mehmentum]

27/32


The religious questions (not the demographic, historical or terminology ones) seemed very disproportionately about Christianity. A Christian or ex-Christian (most Atheists) would probably do best, on average.

There were some rather specific Old Testament and New Testament questions, most of the questions about other religions were very simple.  What religion are people in Indonesia?  Which religion beleives in Nirvana?  The equivelent questions for Christianity would be no-brainers. 

[nclib]

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0105/Are-you-smarter-than-an-atheist-A-religious-quiz/When-does-the-Jewish-Sabbath-begin

Ironic that Atheists and Agnostics get the highest scores on this quiz.

I got 23 out of 32 (72%).

Why is it ironic?  Non-religious people in most cases have researched many religions and realized that they're all fairytales.  If God or whatever really exists, we are probably not capable of comprehending it.

I meant ironic moreso than surprising.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

29/32.  That was fairly easy. 

[Oldiesfreak1854]

I got 30/32 (94%).  The only questions I missed were on Mamonides (his name sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it), and about which Christian denominations historically have taught salvation by faith.  I thought it was both Protestants and Catholics, although I am certainly familiar with indulgences, etc. 

[Barnes]

30/32 (94%), damn you, Old Testament!

But seriously, every one of these question was covered in my 10th grade Advanced World History class - I mean, those are just the broad talking points.  Those average results are kind of sad, really...

[angus]

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0105/Are-you-smarter-than-an-atheist-A-religious-quiz/When-does-the-Jewish-Sabbath-begin

Ironic that Atheists and Agnostics get the highest scores on this quiz.

I got 23 out of 32 (72%).

I got 30 correct (94%).  They got harder as the test progressed.  The first ten were pretty easy.  I missed 14 (I chose Abraham), 29 (Billy Graham???  What was I thinking?)

21, 22, 24, 25 were weird.  I got them all right but each was a policy question or history question rather than a religion question.

[The Mikado]

I got 30/32 (94%).  The only questions I missed were on Mamonides (his name sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it), and about which Christian denominations historically have taught salvation by faith.  I thought it was both Protestants and Catholics, although I am certainly familiar with indulgences, etc. 

Catholicism preaches salvation through "works," by which it means fulfilling the sacraments of the Church.  That's one of the key differences from Protestantism, where faith alone is enough for salvation.

[DemPGH]

I'm an agnostic with not a great deal interest in religion and mythology per se, although I have researched Christianity reasonably well. I got 28 of 32 for 88% and was surprised at how easy it was.

The four I missed were early and concerned the Eastern religions. I knew every one I got right except Maimonides. Never heard of that individual, so I played a process of elimination based upon how the name "sounded," narrowed it to two, guessed, and got it right.

[Robert California]

30/32. I messed up on the Sabbath one, and the Ramadan one, which I should've known, confused me. I somehow mixed it up with the holiday from the show "Outsourced" and I chose "the Hindu festival of lights".

[angus]

The four I missed were early and concerned the Eastern religions. I knew every one I got right except Maimonides. Never heard of that individual, so I played a process of elimination based upon how the name "sounded," narrowed it to two, guessed, and got it right.

ha!  I guessed on that one as well.  I think I actually knew 29 of them and guessed on three, getting one of those guesses right.  That's how I scored 30.  

Like you, I did some estimation and elimination on that one.  Well, he's French, so if he's Catholic he probably wouldn't be worth mentioning, because that wouldn't distinguish him from millions of other of his countrymen.  If he were Hindu or Buddhist or Zoroastrian, well the likelihood of his living in France would be very small, wouldn't it.  Only Jew remained.  

Or something like that.  It was yesterday and I've thought about other things since, but I do remember thinking "Moimidez.  Who the hell is that?" and then going through some elimination process.

Multiple guess.  Still my favorite format for exams.