false 145959 6 The United States is one of the most religious places on earth, but it is also a nation of shocking religious illiteracy. *Only 10 percent of American teenagers can name all five major world religions and 15 percent cannot name any. *Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that the Bible holds the answers to all or most of life's basic questions, yet only half of American adults can name even one of the four gospels and most Americans cannot name the first book of the Bible. Despite this lack of basic knowledge, politicians and pundits continue to root public policy arguments in religious rhetoric whose meanings are missed&#8212;or misinterpreted&#8212;by the vast majority of Americans. "We have a major civic problem on our hands," says religion scholar Stephen Prothero. He makes the provocative case that to remedy this problem, we should return to teaching religion in the public schools. Alongside "reading, writing, and arithmetic," religion ought to become the "Fourth R" of American education. Many believe that America's descent into religious illiteracy was the doing of activist judges and secularists hell-bent on banishing religion from the public square. Prothero reveals that this is a profound misunderstanding. "In one of the great ironies of American religious history," Prothero writes, "it was the nation's most fervent people of faith who steered us down the road to religious illiteracy. Just how that happened is one of the stories this book has to tell." Prothero avoids the trap of religious relativism by addressing both the core tenets of the world's major religions <i>and</i> the real differences among them. Complete with a dictionary of the key beliefs, characters, and stories of Christianity, Islam, and other religions, <i>Religious Literacy</i> reveals what every American needs to know in order to confront the domestic and foreign challenges facing this country today. 140855 1 3 2007 Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't total:370|5:49|4:115|3:137|2:60|1:9| 370 1245 778 119 1 4 false false Mon Nov 10 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Oct 16 11:52:52 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 10 15:02:32 -0800 2008
I had been really looking forward to reading this book ever since first hearing about it; ...more...]]> 2 2 false false Mon Jun 16 16:23:06 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 04 14:51:35 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 16 16:23:06 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 15 04:43:39 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 15 05:05:21 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 2 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 05 06:31:37 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 05 06:39:03 -0800 2007
He begins the book by ...more...]]> 1 1 false false Sat Feb 07 08:58:23 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 07 08:58:57 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed May 16 06:43:35 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 21 06:48:21 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 23 10:51:35 -0800 2008 Fri Aug 01 13:20:45 -0700 2008 Prothero makes a compelling case for why we need to be educated about the worlds religions. It is a great book to get discussion going with believers and nonbelievers alike. He focuses on Christianity since, he argues, it is by far the most prevalent and influential in American culture.
...more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed May 28 22:56:42 -0700 2008 Wed May 28 23:00:12 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Mar 13 09:26:53 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 15 17:07:53 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Feb 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 07 19:15:48 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 08 15:07:54 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 15:06:52 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 15:17:04 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 11 20:53:28 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 11 21:26:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Aug 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 15:31:48 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 20:29:31 -0700 2009 Though sometimes reading like thinly veiled conservatism, this book is still a welcome rallying point for those in the field of religious education.

"When it comes to understanding the Islamic tradition, most Americans are kindertners at best." (pg. 4)

"Catholics...more...]]> 2 1 false false Tue Feb 12 08:07:54 -0800 2008 Mon Apr 14 06:35:28 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Dec 22 18:50:12 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 22 19:04:51 -0800 2008
Prothero suggests that Americans have lost...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Sep 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 07 18:03:02 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 07 18:05:07 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat May 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 15:20:58 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 20:36:43 -0700 2009
Rather than a book about what every American needs to know about religion and doesn't, this book is mostly filler bookending a rather simple idea, namely that it is not possible to adequately teach history or current events while completely...more...]]> 2 1 false false Mon May 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 31 16:19:31 -0700 2008 Mon May 26 08:54:19 -0700 2008 2 2 false false Sun Apr 20 04:54:51 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 16 15:47:37 -0700 2007 Tue Mar 18 19:53:59 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Fri Dec 26 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 26 09:56:48 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 26 21:24:01 -0800 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=145959