No. 331: " 'Twixt 12 and 20"
The United States,
Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia share an idea about teen-agers held
by no other nations. What idea?
Send
your answer by noon ET Thursday to [email protected] .
Note: Because of demands from a meddlesome attorney general,
we were obliged to spend Thursday retrofitting
Slate
's coal furnaces to burn pandas. News Quiz will
resume in a special pollution-free Friday edition.
Monday's Question (No. 330)--"One Down, 94 To Go":
On Sunday in Berlin, Lutheran and Roman Catholic officials
signed a joint declaration, resolving a conflict that began exactly 482 years
ago. It turns out that, on this point, both churches believe the same thing.
What?
"Sunday morning is still the perfect time for church because there's nothing
good to watch on television."-- Merrill Markoe
"Jews,
and more specifically David Geffen and Alicia Silverstone, are the devil's
henchmen."-- Jon Hotchkiss
"That
whole thing about it being easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a
needle than for a rich man to get into heaven? The rich guy could buy his own
giant needle."-- Tom Reynolds
"Harry Potter Meets Charles Darwin should be banned from public
schools."-- David Shulman
"The
Episcopalians are all going to hell."--Francis Heaney
Click
for more answers.
Randy's Wrap-Up
It is so delightfully
dark ages to see this kind of mumbo jumbo reported right next to the real news.
But of course we live in a country where religious belief is not merely
tolerated, it is required of anyone seeking high office. Where do they get this
stuff? They learn it in school; that's what social scientists Ray Eve and Dana
Dunn say. In a national survey of high-school life-science teachers (reported
in the terrific book How To Think About Weird Things ), they found:
43 percent thought the story of Noah's Ark was definitely or probably
true
20 percent believed in communication with the dead
19 percent felt dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time
22 percent believed in ghosts
Should you wish a more
passionate embrace of the irrational, the December 1996 issue of George
reported that 77 percent of all Americans believe in a literal hell, 60 percent
believe the world was created in six days, and 78 percent believe in angels.
It's amazing our rockets get off the ground. Well, maybe not so amazing: We've
got Della Reese holding them aloft.
Good Deeds Are for
Suckers Answer
Both churches agreed on the doctrine of
justification, declaring that salvation could be achieved by faith alone; no
good works required. This assertion, one of the 95 theses Martin Luther posted
on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral on Oct. 31, 1517, contrary to church
teachings of that time, helped kick off the Reformation.
No consensus has been
reached concerning the buying and selling of indulgences online at eBay.
Touting Scouting
Extra
It's not all gay-bashing and religious mania;
today's scouting encourages kids to learn many useful skills through its system
of merit badges. Which of the following are actual Boy Scout merit badges?
1. Agribusiness
2. American Business
3. Atomic Energy
4. Consumer Buying
5. Entrepreneurship
6. Family Life
7. Fingerprinting
8. Genealogy
9. Golf
10 Personal Management
11. Salesmanship
Answers
All are actual merit
badges that can be earned by any member of Troop Willie Loman, should such a
troop actually exist. Note: Safety and Sports have been dropped from the list
of merit badges required to become an Eagle Scout. They have been replaced by
Free Marketeering and Learjet Leasing, but only in my feverish khaki-clad
imagination.
Common
Denominator
Christians: bad for the Jews.
