Americans get an ‘F’ in religion Essay Assignment
The focal purpose of the article ‘Americans get an ‘F’ in religion’ by Cathy Lynn Grossman is to explain how ignorant Americans are when it comes to other religions around the world and their own. Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs; a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons and sects. Being ignorant to something as vital as religion scares the author of this article because religion is not only all of the actualities stated in the preceding sentence but it is what motivates the people around us and why they behave as they do. Additionally, Grossman’s purpose of writing this article is to inform the readers that being ignorant about something that is this heavily weighted is not okay. This article was written in the year 2007; as a result the context has relevance and can still be comprehended and understood the same way today. The reason being that the article can still be construed the same way six years after it was written is because Americans still aren’t as knowledgeable as they should be about the religions of the world, their peers, or their own. A study in 2005 by the Bible Literacy Project surveyed 1,000 high school students and found that just 36 % know Ramadan is the Islamic holy month; 17% said it was the Jewish Day of Atonement. This study explains and supports the controversial topic that many Americans are ignorant about religion. It also clarifies that many high school students aren’t well informed enough about the religions of their peers and other people who inhabit their neighborhoods and communities. Consequently these high school students do not know or understand what