Posted on 08/12/2013 9:06:19 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Religious people are less intelligent than non-believers, according to a new review of 63 scientific studies stretching back over decades.
A team led by Miron Zuckerman of the University of Rochester found “a reliable negative relation between intelligence and religiosity” in 53 out of 63 studies. …
Previous studies have tended to assume that intelligent people simply “know better”, the researchers write—but the reasons may be more complex. For instance, intelligent people are more likely to be married, and more likely to be successful in life—and this may mean they “need” religion less. …
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.news.yahoo.com ...
You don’t have to be religious to be married.
I’m a born again Christian.
IQ measured at 131.
Too many non religious people are so blinded by their own hatred to take seriously.
That’s not what this “study” says. They’re implying that the religious are often unmarried.
They’re treading on thin ice here, considering that the same methodology could be used to “prove” that black people are less intelligent than whites. I’d love to see them have fun with that one.
Meanwhile, I’ll be fine being lumped in with such other mental midgets as C.S. Lewis, Dostoyevsky, A.E. Wilder-Smith, et al.
Dare I guess that the authors of these 63 “scientific” studies are mostly atheists, who are proud of their own intellectual brilliance and know where the grant money may be found?
Liberals are cracked pots who are deluded and must keep telling themselves how smart, how morally superior they are to everyone else. It's a ruse, a fantasy they would very hard to maintain.
They claimed to be wise. But they made fools of themselves. They would rather have statues of gods than the glorious God who lives forever. Their statues of gods are made to look like people, birds, animals and reptiles.
So God let them go. He allowed them to do what their sinful hearts wanted to. He let them commit sexual sins. They polluted one another’s bodies by what they did.
They chose a lie instead of God’s truth. They worshiped and served created things. They didn’t worship the Creator.
Which can happen too. You don’t have to be not religious to have not found Mr/s Right. Two of the most religious people I know have failed at that quest well into their 40s.
Christ said they were going to be more shrewed and said the meek was blessed. Moses was such humbled person.
The problem is negative intelligence, not low intelligence. I’ll take the brains of a Terri Schiavo at IQ 50 over that of Judge Greer or liberals at minus 150 IQ full of “retard pride”.
Oh, boy. Another “study”.
They are putting married atheists in the majority of married folk, and implying that a majority of religious people are unmarried. Do you think that’s the case? They are not talking exceptions to the rule, remember.
That’s the top reason that I’ve gathered from libs for being a liberal - to claim superiority, morally and/or intellectually, over others.
It would certainly not surprise me that people who spend longer periods in the viper pit of academia are less religious. I wonder if any of the studies mentioned controlled for time spent receiving anti-religous propaganda?
No, they said atheists are MORE LIKELY to be married, which might or might not make them the majority depending on demographics. And they didn’t say the majority of religious people are unmarried, just that they were less likely to be married. They actually could very well be talking exceptions to the rule, because all the math is comparative. If 90% of atheists are married and 85% of religious people are married that leaves atheists more likely than religious (all numbers there made up by me to show how the math behind the statement works). You’re making bad assumptions based on vague statements.
If true, then it’s likely because atheists are much more likely to abort their mentally disabled children.
Sad thing is, many of our oldest academic institutions started out as religious seminaries. In light of that, “viper pit” certainly illustrates a takeover by the god of this world.
The conservative couple plays ball, the liberal one chess and trade offs for past and present. No conspiracy? Well, when a gun buy back looks good toda but bad and unconstitutional after a ban precluding replacement of destroyed guns, we have chess, not conspiracy, per say directly, but definite calculations.
Liberals can be told by their growls. They will want your spot and to surrender custodies, but will blackmail you about other threats and deficiency in spelling. They are shrewd manpulating trollers... in the elite sphere. But it is all causeless, in vain, and blind of the real signs of the times. They play well in what is in front of their plate. Their followers are notoriously worshipping and stupid many times, however.
The point is not their Nazi intelligence, it is peace, and they consume themselves with brain satisfaction drug addiction, blinds leading the blinds. They have a nice roof but no fundamentals they disregard with contempt.
Intellectuals are the marrying kind. Four or five times each at latest coiunt.
The Ten Commandments
August 5 - 29, 1990
This reminds me of the myriad ‘historical’ programs on History Channel, National Geographic, and etc. where secular Jews, atheists, and muslims pontificate on how Jesus was just a man or that he didn’t exist at all.
But they “may” need religion less? Why go for an obviously religious institution when one is atheist?
The Muslims denying Jesus existing per se doesn’t sound likely, since the Islamic version and even that of his mother Mary are written all over the Koran, with Mary getting a whole chapter to herself.
Let me rewrite that Headline.
Atheists THINK they are more intelligent than religious people.
That kind of thinking could go horribly wrong when they kick the bucket.
Such studies merely measure the degree of modernization and not intelligence.
These types of studies don’t square with other studies that show religious people are also more educated.
If I came up with a study that said people with pink or chocolate skin color were less intelligent I would be considered a racist.
The sociologist C. Wright Mills once wrote that groups exercise social control by linguistic devices, imputing good or bad motives or lack of intelligence to those groups they wish to cognitively dominate. If my group of atheists are deemed more intelligent then we can dominate the university and can banish those who are religious. If my in-group of atheists are more intelligent then we should formulate all social policies to control the masses of backward people. Atheists are more intelligent all right: they want everyone to believe they are more intelligent so they can be their masters. I’m sorry to say many libertarians fall into the same sort of thinking in my experience.
Don't know my IQ but I am a Christian.
You don’t have to look back very far in history to find the most brilliant of a given age to be very religious. Atheism is simply the current fashion in the Academy. It doesn’t reflect transcendent critical thinking skills. And to hold the view that modern science disproves religion reflects a lack of intelligence or a simple lack of reflection.
I just wonder why religious people have such predictable knee jerk responses to stupid studies that don’t prove anything!
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 America demands Justice for the Fallen of Benghazi! |
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Knee-jerk?
When such studies resemble the tripe that the USSR used to put out, it’s not a knee-jerk response.
Good thing Thomas Jefferson or George Washington weren’t religious.
Isn’t it always amazing how these “studies” almost always give the result the researchers wanted when they set out?
Indeed, and Washington never said that religion and morality were “indispensable supports” for the new USA. He knew better than that, obviously.
I also wonder which particular “religious” people they had in the mix. There are a lot of different religions out there, and various sects and denominations of them all.
Mu guess is that they interviews a bunch of the Westboro Baptist Church folks.
I believe only and alone in the service of Jesus Christ. In him is all refuge and solace.
—Johannes Kepler
God makes people conscious of their inward wretchedness, which the Bible calls "sin" and his infinite mercy. Unites himself to their inmost soul, fills it with humility and joy, with confidence and love, renders them incapable of any other end than Himself. Jesus Christ is the end of all and the center to which all tends.
—Blaise Pascal
This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being….
There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history. It must be expressed in the very form of sound words in which it was delivered by the apostles. For men are apt to run into partings about deductions. All the old heresies lie in deductions….
The true faith was in the Biblical texts.
—Isaac Newton
Speculations, man, I have none. I have certainties. I thank God that I don't rest my dying head upon speculations for "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day."
—Michael Faraday
Think what God has determined to do to all those who submit themselves to his righteousness and are willing to receive his gift [of eternal life in Jesus Christ]. They are to be conformed to the image of his Son and when that is fulfilled and God sees they are conformed to the image of Christ, there can be no more condemnation.
—James Clerk Maxwell
Do not be afraid to be free thinkers. If you think strongly enough, you will be forced by science to the belief in God.
—William Thomson (later known as Lord Kelvin)
You will understand that my atheism was inevitably based on what I believed to be the findings of the sciences and those findings, not being a scientist, I had to take on trust, in fact, on authority.
— C. S. Lewis
I'm very astonished that the scientific picture of the real world is very deficient. It gives a lot of factual information, puts all our experience in a magnificently consistent order, but it is ghastly silent about all and sundry that is really near to our heart, that really matters to us. It cannot tell us a word about red and blue, bitter and sweet, physical pain and physical delight, knows nothing of beautiful and ugly, good or bad, God and eternity. Science sometimes pretends to answer questions in these domains, but the answers are very often so silly that we are not inclined to take them seriously.
—Erwin Schrodinger
There is a tremendous tradition of distinguished scientists who were and are Christians. I hope that my work is considered sufficiently outstanding to fall into the distinguished among that category. I also hope I have given you enough evidence that you will never again believe that it is impossible to be a scientist and a Christian.
—Dr. Henry F. Schaefer, III
When you cite your IQ or some other accomplishments and tell the world that you’re religious, that’s a knee-jerk response.
This sort of gets to my argument against gnosticism. Compared to God, the most intelligent man on Earth has the intellect of a tick. Besides, there are a lot of dumb@ssed non believers in the world. I bet they didn’t make it into the study.
Atheism is another “genius word” for liberals, because there is no such thing as Atheism but narcissistic hate of a Being better than them technically and politically.
They have a fascist cop mentality of making a nice spectacle of themselves arresting another one making a bad or poor spectacle of himself. In their eyes of evil Nazi cop, Trayvon should have won the fight. It is not about justice, it is about fake TV wrestling, politics and preferences on the field for them.
A Christian will use humor and make fun of himself, a liberals will go candid camera, look for a victim to make fun of, go John Stewart and cover themselves with “authority” “experimental” self credit. All these shows on TV and celebrities snarl. They are not funny. Their humor is self serving and exploitative of children, they are disgusting.
If devil enters my heart, I focus on the face of an idiot liberal who made nothing and none of it, playing Vegas smart a$$. That detestable image is all we need. Obama is very useful in that groupie dunce mentality.
Scopes Trial
In what way?
What would be the “appropriate” response to the continued onslaught of USSR-type propaganda such as this?
I wonder how many Muslims were included in the study.
Funny you say “cold war”. That was between Christians and atheists at its core.
Atheism is immaturity and overweening pride. They may have high IQs, but it’s useless until they grow up and get over themselves.
The wisest bow before GOD.
AN ATHEIST IN THE WOODS
An atheist was walking through the woods.
‘What majestic trees!
‘What powerful rivers!
‘What beautiful animals!
He said to himself.
As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him.
He turned to look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charge towards him.
He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder & saw that the bear was closing in on him..
He looked over his shoulder again, & the bear was even closer.
He tripped & fell on the ground.
He rolled over to pick himself up but saw that the bear was right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw & raising his right paw to strike him.
At that instant the Atheist cried out,
‘Oh my God!’
Time Stopped.
The bear froze.
The forest was silent.
As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky.
‘You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don’t exist and even credit creation to cosmic accident.’
‘Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament?
Am I to count you as a believer?
The atheist looked directly into the light, ‘It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps you could make the BEAR a Christian’?
‘Very well,’ said the voice.
The light went out. The sounds of the forest resumed. And the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head & spoke:
‘Lord bless this food, which I am about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen.’
Taking a wild guess here.. This is a study done by atheists?..
You are lowering yourself to the level of these pseudo-scientists when defending your precious highly intelligent self. And they have a ready answer for you which is included in their “studies”: there are exceptions. No, dismiss them without becoming defensive, attack their weak points, ask for a race breakdown, for example, ridicule their conclusions.
You wanna be really effective? Attack the sources of their finances.
Two Words:
Isaac
Newton.
yup, that’s a good one.
“Intelligent people may simply be able to provide themselves with the psychological benefits offered by religion - such as “self-regulation and self-enhancement”, because they are more likely to be successful, and have stable lives.”
Arguments like these in the article just don’t hang together to a rational whole. Ironic given the nature of the article.
If anything, it makes me a little more appreciative of being a person with an average IQ. I can believe those with an IQ over 135 are less likely to have faith. I think there are significant social pressures on them. I also think it’s part of the human condition to try to be all things to ourselves (as emotionally self sufficient as possible)and perhaps highly intelligent people feel less able to express needs the rest of us have.
I’ve worked with a person who had an IQ of 175. His brilliance did not extend to his personal life or emotions. He was an abusive sociopath and regretfully admitted one day that he gave his son PTSD by engaging in a harrowing diatribe/rage fit for having lost a matchbook sized object. I can assure you he and his family were not happy and the recipient of satisfied emotional needs. I was made ill by the way he treated his wife - techniques of psychological abuse I’ve never witnessed anywhere else.
Although I am average, in my professional field (science) I have colleagues who are not afraid to ask incredulously, “How can you, a scientist, believe in God?” I imagine the brilliant minds among us encounter that even more than I do.
All the lame conjecture in the article seems sloppy compared with the study simply reporting the tracking of gifted children over time. It seems like a waste of interesting research, better to throw it in the gutter than surround it with half baked biases.
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