Here's the factbook breakdown of US religions: Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%, other 10%, none 10% (2002 est.). Knowing the bible is part of knowing your electorate. Believing the bible shouldn't be
Is it expected in other countries with a large nominally Christian population? That's not the impression I've managed to get from friends outside of the US.
Do you think it is a prerequisite, or do you think that when someone pretends to have the knowledge, we reject them when they don't?
If it wasn't an unwritten prerequisite, people wouldn't be pretending to have the knowledge.
Boss: "You should have a copy of everybody's resume. You should have it on your computer. You should have it in your email. You should have it scanned and put into the tracking system."
This sounds all too much like one of my unlamented Jobs From Hell.
Me: “Hi, I need to know how to format the pull quotes for the magazine.”
Evil!Boss: “You should know that.”
Me: “Sorry, I’m new here, and I’m afraid that I don’t know.”
Evil!Boss: “Don’t take that attitude with me.”
Me: “Um…well, how do you want me to find out?”
Evil!Boss: (venomous look) “You should have that information.”
So then she sent me to look through the archives to find a pull quote … and then came by to lambaste me with harsh words about the disgraceful waste of valuable company time. She didn’t seem to understand why I wasn’t happy to chat with her when we crossed paths years later.
That's not the impression I've managed to get from friends outside of the US.
You know, it had never occurred to me that it would be otherwise, just because it seems to make so much sense. This is an aggregate impression from places I've lived, but other than Canada, they were officially Christian. It just seems ... incomplete preparation to ignore something like that. There are things about the electorate that
aren't
religion (like class, culture, etc) that one will want to be up on too.
If it wasn't an unwritten prerequisite, people wouldn't be pretending to have the knowledge.
Isn't that trusting the judgment of the people pretending the knowledge? They could be wrong in that assumption.
How much Bible knowledge have recent presidential hopefuls a) displayed b) been asked to display?
Yeah, I don't think W's ever displayed a lot of Biblical knowledge. Has he pretended to? I may just have missed it on account of the purposefully not paying attention to anything political until a date to be determined.
How much Bible knowledge have recent presidential hopefuls a) displayed b) been asked to display?
I don't think all that much as long as they don't start quoting scripture or saying that the Bible says this or that.
I'd say they generally have to avow faith more than knowledge. Which is less defensible, IMO.
Is it expected in other countries with a large nominally Christian population?
Not in most countries. But 1 in 3 Americans attend church every Sunday; less than 1 in 10 do in the UK, and I think it's something like 1 in 20 in Germany. Christmas-and-Easter, I believe it's a majority of Americans. One could surmise that a majority of Americans have some very basic knowledge of the Bible. One could surmise that a majority of Brtis and Germans don't.
Isn't a nominal knowledge of the Koran expected in countries with large nominally Muslim populations? Do you think a candidate for political office in Lebanon could get away with saying anything dumb about the Koran?
Isn't a nominal knowledge of Seattle history and culture expected in this town if you're running for mayor? I mean, shouldn't the mayor be expected to pick out J. P. Patches from a police lineup?
If it wasn't an unwritten prerequisite, people wouldn't be pretending to have the knowledge.
The motto of my resume.
I don't think W's ever displayed a lot of Biblical knowledge. Has he pretended to?
He's pretended to be on Jesus' speed-dial, but that's not quite the same thing.
I think the prereq for political office isn't Bible-knowledge persay, but god-fearing-ness. My impression is that the fact that we're not an officially Christian nation scares the shit out of a large portion of the voting population.
