More than half of British people have no idea why Easter is celebrated, a survey revealed on Wednesday.
Just 48% of about 1 000 adults questioned for the Reader’s Digest magazine poll correctly answered the resurrection of Christ.
In addition, a massive 92% failed to recognise that Karol Wojtyla is better known as Pope John Paul II, according to the survey.
People appeared to struggle with religious figureheads, with two-thirds clueless as to the identity of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and 42% unable to name Judas Iscariot as the man who betrayed Jesus.
Despite their lack of religious knowledge, the poll found that 64% of people quizzed believed in God and 58% in an afterlife.
”Britons have a strong spiritual sense, with a majority expressing a belief in God and an afterlife, but they have little grasp of or interest in the basic tenets of Christianity,” said Reader’s Digest editor-in-chief Katherine Walker.
”Many people who would profess to be Christian know little more about the faith than they do about other world religions,” she added.
On top of general ignorance about Christianity, the British public appeared ill-informed about the other five major faiths practised in the country.
Less than a quarter of adults associated the Torah with the Jewish faith, while only 40% knew that halal food was eaten by Muslims.
A mere 44% correctly said the cow is sacred to Hindus and 41% knew that the Dalai Lama is Buddhists’ spiritual leader.
As for which religion is associated with the turban — Sikhs — 56% got the answer right.
The question that attracted the most right answers was: ”To whom did God give the 10 commandments?” Sixty-four percent correctly said Moses.
Of 1 001 adults surveyed, the average number of correct answers was five out of 10. – Sapa-AFP