Someone didn't know the word 'Messiah'

[Grumpyoldpersonwithcats]

Went to the bank yesterday while I was wearing a
'He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy' T-shirt.
The teller asked me what it meant - and I said it was just a quote from an old comedy film.
She then said 'what's a Messiah? I thought that was an African tribe.'
AIBU to be surprised at someone (who by her accent I would assume had been brought up in the UK) who doesn't know the word Messiah?

Happy to be told my expectations are too high.

YANBU. Bit odd IMO

I knew this would be connected to the Life of Brian

She was obviously confused with the Maasai tribe.
it doesn't surprise me that she didn't know the word. RE teaching seems to cover the basics so maybe just doesn't include that specific word?

Where DID you get the T-Shirt ?

A lovely 21 year old I see daily has no knowledge of religion at all, he sometimes asks about things like Easter and just looks dumb struck when it is explained to him. I just told him he is better off knowing nothing about it, it is just made up stories to control people.

^and sell chocolate.

Hello Spartacus
It was a gift from an American friend (who happens to be a vicar )

Seeline - yes I also thought it was probably Maasai she was confused by (although it took me over an hour to think of it)

Last night DH didn’t know what a langoustine was when I told him the dog was sleeping like one. So nothing would surprise me.

I'm surprised you didn't know about the Maasai people.

Knowledge of real people is surely more helpful than some made up hocus pocus?

Well to be fair I've never heard the phrase
'sleeping like a langoustine' - although I may now start to use it

• Well to be fair I've never heard the phrase 'sleeping like a langoustine' - although I may now start to use it *

That so describes one of my dachshund's sleeping poses.

As to 'messiah' - not too surprising that's not a universally recognised word/concept nowadays, I suppose.

Yep - only took a few posts for Christianity to be mocked as ‘hocus pocus’ ffs.

Can we maybe agree that even if you are not religious yourself, that it is still part of cultural history to know the basics of all major world religion (rather than pride in a teenager not knowing about Easter ) And a tiny bit of respect for other people’s beliefs wouldn’t go amiss either.

I wonder if there is an 'Are you a Virgin' T-Shirt too. And 'Blessed are the Cheesemakers'.

I imagine it is a wonderful T-Shirt.

I get Langowhatsists confused with Mangowhatsists.

Can we maybe agree that even if you are not religious yourself, that it is still part of cultural history to know the basics of all major world religion (rather than pride in a teenager not knowing about Easter hmm ) And a tiny bit of respect for other people’s beliefs wouldn’t go amiss either.

I'll meet you halfway. I agree people should know about the worlds major religions, in the same way as they should know about Greek Mythology.

But no, no one should have to respect religion. In the same way you don't have to respect someone who thinks Greek mythology is true.

Tolerance, yes. Respect, no.

Spartacus - just for you

Religious literacy is terrible in the UK (and the two other European countries where I regularly work) at the moment.

I've met people who've never heard of Adam & Eve or the Garden of Eden (difficult when the set text is Paradise Lost), plenty of people who don't know what a crucifix is ... today I was teaching someone who's been a practising Christian for 50+ years, it was news to her that some of the Bible was written before Christ, that Christianity had anything to do with Judaism, historically, and that Scripture was composed by different human authors over a long period of time.

Last week I was talking to someone who didn't know there were monks in Christianity, he thought they were only a Buddhist thing.

I have ceased to be surprised by low levels of religious literacy amongst otherwise intelligent adults. It is still worrying though.

I'm not sure is call it 'worrying' - is anyone worried that most people don't know much about eg the Norse pantheon, for instance? It's maybe a bit sad that some of our cultural heritage may become less accessible - but on the other hand, with the internet at our fingertips nowadays it's easy to delve if there's something we don't understand. This applies not just to religion but to history and other cultures - e.g. reading childhood classics to DD, there were terms in some from America which had mystified me as a child but which I could now google.

I think it's worrying not because of the cultural patrimony lost, that is regrettable but if people are interested they can learn about it, as people who want to be generally well-read and rounded will.

Why I call it worrying is because most people's around the world and a large chunk of the British population's lives are centred on their religious beliefs and their whole way of thinking about anything revolves around their faith. If fewer and fewer people in the UK understand that then they fail to grasp the most fundamental element of what makes their fellow citizens tick. So I think it's worrying because it displays an ignorance which is likely to divide communities even further. It's not about learning of something of merely historical interest like the Ancient Egyptians because it continues to be the foundation to most people's lives and not knowing about it doesn't make that go away.

I can't help thinking that it is equally sad that Monty Python is fading from the national memory :(

The T-Shirt is ace!

YetAnotherSpartacus I mean, obviously yes that too. Although (armouring myself against potential stoning here), I found nearly all of Python a bit hit and miss: some parts were hilarious, but others were a bit meh.

Pre-teen DC love the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch and a couple of other scenes/ sketches, but I haven't let them see any of the films or Flying Circus episodes as a whole because of their age.

Popular culture is very short lived. I wouldn't expect someone in their twenties to get a reference to decades old comedy like Monty Python. In my last job I worked with someone who hadn't heard of ABBA.

Anyway it appears from comments above that IAB a bit U to expect terms like 'Messiah' to be known - so if it ever happens again I'll be prepared.

You'd have to be trying reeeeeaaally hard not to have heard of ABBA!

Python was definitely hit and miss. It was totally experimental. I think people mainly remember the good bits such as The Spanish Inquisition, The Ministry of Silly Walks etc. and I loved 'Confuse a Cat'.

And the sketch about 'tinny words'.

And the dead parrot, the lumberjack song... not to mention, spam ( www.templetons.com/brad/spamterm.html). And the series has given its name to a very popular computer language.

And surely this thread should have started 'I wish to make a complaint'?

I love “sleeping like a langoustine”. I will use it from now on.

Here is my cat sleeping like a prawn.