Unequally Yoked
I’m over at First Things today, to talk about how I cover religion statistics as both a Catholic and a journalist (two roles both oriented toward truth).
In a way, these religion surveys remind me of the perennial studies of how few Americans believe that the earth goes round the sun, that evolution shaped human development, that vaccines don’t cause autism, etc. Each of those questions touches on something objective, just like questions about sin do—they’re a measure of how widely a fact is known, not a referendum to decide what we’re going to believe going forward.
And just as those studies make nerds like me all the more eager to increase scientific literacy, polls of Catholics or Christians at large are a guide for future catechesis. It’s harder for the scientists than it is for religious leaders; once people graduate from school, they only have the opportunities to learn that they create for themselves. But, when it comes to religious literacy, school is open every Sunday.
It’s for preachers, both ordained ministers and parents, friends, and anyone else engaged in the faith to try to cover the gaps. Emma Green is correct that religion polls are mostly a problem if they’re the primary way that the faith is understood and discussed.
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