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Atheists, Agnostics, Believers: Who Knows What about Religion?
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Atheists, Agnostics, Believers: Who Knows What about Religion?

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The US may be a highly religions country, but atheists and agnostics know more about religion than Americans who consider themselves devout. We talk with representatives of several different faiths. Also, goodbye Rahm Emanuel and hello Pete Rouse.

Making News

Goodbye Rahm Emanuel, Hello Pete Rouse ()

As expected since Mayor Richard Daley said he would not run for another term, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel left the White House today to return to Chicago. Emanuel and the President made emotional statements about the challenges of public service and about each other. Pete Rouse, who will succeed Emanuel as Chief of Staff, made no public statement at all. Anne Korblut covers the White House for the Washington Post.

 

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Who Knows What about Religion? ()

The Pew Research Center prides itself on nonpartisan disinterest in the outcomes of its work. This week, its Forum on Religion and Public Life released a survey on religious knowledge in the United States. Some findings about one of the most religious of the developed countries are surprising. Atheists and agnostics are the best informed, along with Mormons and Jews. Evangelicals, Mainline Protestants and Catholics did not do so well when it came to the core teachings, history and leading figures of the major world religions — sometimes even their own. What does this mean in one of the most religious of the developed nations -- and one of the most diverse? What are the implications for policy and politics? When a proposed Muslim center near Ground Zero has created so much dispute what are the prospects for interfaith dialogue?

Guests:
  • Alan Cooperman: Associate Director of Research, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
  • Ed Buckner: Retired President, American Atheists
  • Richard Land: President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention,
  • Susan Ross: Vice President, Catholic Theological Society
  • J.J. Goldberg: Editor of Forward
  • Ebrahim Moosa: Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, Duke University
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