Once In Welwyn Garden City

‘WE have often observed in these pages that it is a favourite pastime of adults to survey their children to find out how little they know.

”O little town near Beckingham…”

Barely a week goes by without the newspapers decrying the ignorance of the young as they publish the results of the latest test.

And this week is no exception, with today’s Guardian lamenting the fact that more than a quarter of the British public do not know the name of Jesus’s birthplace.

They can recognise the celebrity couple standing above the infant Messiah, even with their faces newly rearranged – but not the whereabouts of the stable.

[For your information, it’s actually not a stable at all, but a barn conversion – and is attached to the Travelodge on the A5, near Royston in Hertfordshire.]

The Telegraph reports that a similar number are unaware that Jesus was Jewish or that the first man to make an appearance in the Bible was called Adam.

Needless to say, younger people were more ignorant of the basic facts of Christianity than older ones, with the over-50s scoring best in the YouGov poll.

This, of course, may have something to do with relevance and the fact that the over-50s are that much closer to meeting their Maker.

We suspect that in a similar survey inquiring into the music of, say Busted or the best cheats on Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 for Playstation 2, the roles may be reversed.

And we look forward to the accompanying Telegraph editorial bemoaning the fact that adults know so little about chart music or computer games…’

Posted: 15th, December 2004 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink