She, and the story, lump too many groups together while talking about the characteristics of smaller subgroups. It's easy to do.

While I wouldn't doubt that 90% or so of Americans say they believe in a God (of some sort), that doesn't necessarily mean they know the Bible. They're completely different things.

And, in my past experience, attending Bible school and church for a couple of hours a week doesn't mean that you know the Bible any more than anyone else. You might know specific passages well, but the services and classes at most of the churches I attended involved building a sermon around a very few passages and telling stories about them. It certainly wasn't "Oprah's Book Club" or similar applied to the Bible. There's no doubt that many evangelicals (and enthusiastic Christians) can cite Bible passages until the cows come home and would do well on these surveys, I wouldn't be surprised if most of those who put themselves in those groups wouldn't do quite so well - simply because many people don't take the time to read it.

One of the things I take from the BU story is that religion in America is a cultural thing like Jamestown and "Remember the Maine!". Most people couldn't tell you the details of what happened, but that's what they believe because, well, that's what they believe. Even if what they believe has nothing to do with reality or orthodoxy.

Cheers,
Scott.