(Thumbnail Image: Flickr / Skeggzatori)

BY JIM FLINK

A new study from the Pew Research Center says most Americans can’t properly identify major tenets of their faith, nor accurately understand the relationship between religion and the Constitution.  Some call it a crisis.  Others say, the study itself is flawed.

We’re taking a closer look at the study and reactions to it from KMSB, The New York Times, News 12, FaithNet, Politics Daily and USA Today.

The biggest stumpers for Americans came in their understanding of the separation of church and state. The New York Times notes, there seems to be lots of confusion about the “teaching versus preaching” issue.

“An overwhelming 89 percent of respondents, asked whether public school teachers are permitted to lead a class in prayer, correctly answered no. But fewer than one of four knew that a public school teacher is permitted ‘to read from the Bible as an example of literature.’”

News 12 reports atheists, Agnostics, Mormons and Jews all scored better than protestants overall.  And there were some curious misses -- like with Roman Catholics.

“A survey finds 45-percent of Roman Catholics didn't know the bread and wine of the holy communion becomes the body and blood of Christ, according to their religion's belief. more than half of all protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the man behind the protestant reformation. 4 in 10 Jews didn't know Maimonides- one of the greatest rabbis - was Jewish.”

The blog -- FaithNet -- says, faith is a hearts and minds experience.  And this is a bit troubling.

“Faith, while not dependent on knowledge is rooted fundamentally in tenets and core beliefs about the world. Our inability to grasp the fundamental facts of faith makes it unlikely that we will be able to discriminate between one view of life and another.  As the Bible itself says, ‘People die for lack of knowledge.’”

But a correspondent for Politics Daily says, this Pew Study was shallow in its questions, which begins shallow answers.

“Too many read to me as if they were taken from a religion version of Trivial Pursuit. Too many check the recognition of names or facts without offering much obvious insight into how people understand their faith or the faith of others.”

And USA Today’s Cathy Lynn Grossman says, the study still gives insight into an important question:  How can you say you have religious convictions, but not be able to corrrectly identify where they come from?

“The Pew experts...talked with me about the challenge to citizenship when voters don't know much about the sources of their own values or the impact these views can have in the public square. Can you take a stance on foreign affairs if you don't know that Indonesia, like Pakistan, is primarily Muslim?”

To read more about the study, be sure to visit our transcript section.