Lots of people are talking about the new Pew Religious Knowledge Survey, which dramatically demonstrates that Americans are incredibly ignorant about the basic teachings of religions, including the basic teachings of their own religions. These Pew findings don't surprise me at all. I was raised Catholic and I have knows…

An ice cream ad has been banned by Britain's advertising watchdog, apparently out of fear that it will offend those people who believe that it is possible to get pregnant without having sex. Actually, the "strapline" of the ad uses the phrase "immaculately conceived," which is interesting. In my experience, most Catholics will tell you with some certainty that the "Immaculate Conception" refers to the "fact" that Mary gave birth to Jesus even though she never had sex with a man. I challenge you to try this out on Catholics. At least 3 out of 4 will say this, but it is fundamentally incorrect. The "Immaculate Conception" refers to the claim that Mary herself was born without original sin. The writers of the ad got it wrong too, though maybe they did so purposely, knowing that so many Catholics get it wrong. And a new Pew survey shows that devout believers notoriously get the basic facts of their faith wrong (and see this DI post). This is phenomenal, given that so many believers claim that their faith is quite important to them.