Religious people are less intelligent than atheists, study finds

[Barn]

I can see that happening but due to other reasons than being an atheist means by default you must be more intelligent. It'll be more to do with environmental factors in my opinion.

[Earl-Hickey]

well, a lot of them are southerners aren't they

[2501]

I can see that happening but due to other reasons than being an atheist means by default you must be more intelligent. It'll be more to do with environmental factors in my opinion.

I think it primarily is. Goes back to what I posted about poverty. IQ levels are more than likely lower in poverty stricken areas. In a general sense, humans have the same potential intellectually, but if opportunity isn't granted and potential is wasted......

[New England]

I can see that happening but due to other reasons than being an atheist means by default you must be more intelligent. It'll be more to do with environmental factors in my opinion.

religiousness and intelligence are going to depend mostly on geography and economy. if that's what you're calling "environment," then your statement is appropriate.


poor, developing nations are more likely to be religious. poor, developing regions in america are the same way. the states in the "bible belt," have less going for them geographically and economically. in an absence of valued materials and services, religion and faith develop a much greater value.

[New England]

well, a lot of them are southerners aren't they

from the south and the middle of the country, yes. economically deprived areas, and disenfranchised populations have been turning to religion for thousands of years now.

[Glen Smith]

I believe one of the main reasons Jewish people are smart is because of their religeon, and more specifically their constant reading of the Torah which includes pondering the different meanings. An orthodox Jew spends a tremendous amount of time and energy doing this and it appears to be an excellent exercise for the brain especially when they try look for hidden meanings and almost over analyze it. These people have been doing this generation after generation after generation for a long time and IMHO they have consistently improved their capacities for analytical thinking, memory, mental creativity, and concentration and it then gets passed down to their kids.

Now if the study is talking about a hillbilly who answered "um a christian" to a general survey who doesn't put in the work but just goes to church once a week, then yeah the guys probably below average.

[-jose-]

Finally found the true reason why I'm dull. I'm never going to church again, never again...

Lol



No more bathing in Holy Water for me...

thanks Marion
Now I only believe in you

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

Some of the most brilliant minds ever where religious people. Saying that, I do believe that liberal thinking lends itself to being more about learning and being open minded. It's not a coincidence that most of the top level universities are liberal.

It's also a fact that if you look at the poorer areas of the world, they are the most religious. Poverty tends to have the least educated people for obvious reasons, and religion brings hope to people where there is no hope.

I do feel we are seeing a change though, I don't think it will be too long before religious is eradicated from the face of the earth, and I really believe that.

[2501]

you should read a confession by tolstoy. its an interesting read. not that long

http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/a-confession/

Will read and provide thesis.

[Glen Smith]

People associate religion with the "religeous people" they know or see in their everyday lives. Maybe they have a family member who goes to church, maybe they had to go when they were kids and remember some of those people, or maybe they drive by a church on Sunday and see the people going inside.
Well what if those churches they are going to aren't really religious? What if what they are doing there isn't real Christianity? But a pseudo Christianity?

I've checked out a couple and they quoted scripture about planting a seed to get a tenfold harvest and went into a ponzi scheme like sales pitch about how Gods going to love me if I donate more cash to their church...that's nonsense. What we seem to have now is a rewritten Christianity from whoever has edited the bible without the exercises to go along with it, and the church leaders are more concerned with extracting money from the congregation and influencing them politically and socially.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say whatever christianity was, it was at its spiritual peak during the time of Jesus and has been getting distorted and deteriorating ever since into what we see nowadays. The closest thing we will find to original Christianity would be the orthodox church and that looks so different than the Christianity in north America that it doesn't even seem like the same religion at all.