Non-believers Know A Lot About Religion - UPI.com

Online, September 28, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Atheists and agnostics in the United States know more about religion on average than followers of the major faiths, a survey released Tuesday indicates.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life said it discovered many Americans were unaware of the history and rituals of their own religion, the Los Angeles Times reported.

For example, the survey found that most Protestants couldn't identify Martin Luther as the driving force behind the Protestant Reformation and four out of 10 Catholics misunderstood the meaning of holy communion.

Alan Cooperman, associate director of the Pew Forum, said atheists and agnostics tended to be people who gave up religion after a great deal of study and reflection.

"These are people who thought a lot about religion," Cooperman said. "They're not indifferent. They care about it."

Pew conducted the survey of 3,412 Americans, aged 18 and older, by phone from May 16 through June 6, 2010.

Information on the margin of error was not available.