Is intelligence the key......?

Question

I'm agnostic just so we have that out of the way! All this talk about intelligence has me wondering. There are studies that show a correlation between being religious and lower intelligence (which I will provide if necessary) however could that be that many just rely on their faith for answers instead of continuing the search for truth? And if all the non-believers are so smart why aren't we running things instead of those "dumb" right wingers (just a term don't get your underwear in knots)?

I really wanna know!

I'm agnostic so I am not allowed to dicuss possibilities? Are you people high?

BTW for a complete list of the studies view my answer to the following question.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AogeGhGnljY.0_9QGbBa95fsy6IX?qid=20060823171254AAfCZVp

HEY religious....doesn't mean only christian! These studies point to ANY spiritual belief system.

Answer 1

Well it is like the Republican Democrat thing. Republicans are the ones screaming the loudest. Democrats are more reserved and contemplating things. Did you ever hear the squeaky wheel gets the oil?

But if you really look at it, over time things do progress, i.e. civil rights, it became illegal to beat your wife and children etc. While I feel sad about the current state of affairs, if you look at history we are slowly being led by the intelligent, it's just that the ignorant and angry make more noise. They are currently being used, but it can not prevail. America is based on freedom, and hopefully always will be.

Answer 2

You know, I've wondered about this, too. I'm no wunderkind, but I am above average intelligence (when last tested, anyhow), and I am a Christian. But then, I had the courage to question my faith...many people don't.
It is also true that there have been many very intelligent Christians...how does that factor in?
Maybe it has something to do with the realities of why a person is a Christian in the first place...is it because his family has always been Christian, and it's just easier to fall into their patterns than it is to think for themselves? Or have they seriously questioned their faith, and the rationality behind it? If their Christianity actually involved any real work or (horrors) real risk, would they be a Christian for long?
Jesus did say something about how there would be few who found the true path to life...maybe we ought to look for the revolutionaries that dare to challenge the traditions of their faith...like Jesus. Following a crowd is easy! Leading...is a bit of a different thing.
What do IQ tests really measure, anyhow? Does anyone remember an old scifi short story, "Flowers for Algernon"? I remember one of the characters saying that IQ was like measuring how much an empty cup might be able to hold...you still had to fill the cup up with stuff...
Then again, I have to wonder...maybe God meant it, when He said He was choosing the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. Maybe these high IQ geniuses just can't see the reality of God, because they are too busy picking Him apart.
Maybe the problem is that we are confusing the physical with the spiritual...I wonder, is there a way to test a person's spiritual IQ????????

Answer 3

Persons of religious faith are not less intelligent than non-believers. Excluding those persons having a mental or learning disability, the capacity for intelligence in people (both believers and non-believers) is basically the same.

However, it may be true that many persons of faith are less educated and have had much less or no experience with ideas and concepts foreign to their religion. By not knowing that there are other ways to understand the universe, religious persons would have no reason to believe that the "truth" presented to them in a religious dogma is not the end-all-be-all to understanding.

But this doesn't mean that the basic tenants of a religion are wrong. Many religions teach principles that even the most educated and staunchly atheistic person would agree. Who in educated philosophical debate would argue against being a good person? Or that murder is okay?

What may be most frustrating to a non-believer when debating a religious person is the fact that many people who profess to be religious actually know very little if not close to nothing of their religion. Another area in which the education of the individual is lacking.

Even with my above arguments, don't be too quick to assume then that all religious persons are lacking education. Many religions vigorously promote education and work hard for younger generations to become tomorrow's doctors, lawyers, inventors, scientists, and world-leaders. And yes, this includes teaching a strong understanding of science and philosophy, teachings that may contradict religious teaching.

Remember, religion offers people (even educated people) many things that science can't. Maybe one day science will have all the answers and religion will have gone the way of the dodo bird. But last time I checked there are still more questions than answers. And sometimes all a person needs is the secure feeling of having an answer in the here and now.

And religion may not be so radically different from science. Let's not forget that religous thinkers begat philisophical thinkers begat mathametical thinkers begat scientific thinkers. In a way, religious thought is the foundation for everything we hold as scientific thought today. It may be difficult to see this - how religion has shaped science - but it's there. It's been a slow evolution of ideas spread over thousands of years, but it's there.

Oh, and as for your questioning how "dumb" right wingers got into power. Let me answer your question with a question - as impolite as that is I think it will help. Are those in charge really "right wing" or do they just fly the banner of supporting "right wing" agendas because they understand that in today's society doing so can keep them in power - a place where they can secretly manifest their own "not-so right wing" goals?

Answer 4

Please provide. However, I do think your question is not structured correctly. A Christian and Agnostic can know what 2+2=?. Just to prove the point since I am Christian and a Catholic priest, I will answer it. The answer is 4. Whatever study you borrowed from would have to provide some accurate details of what they consider to be of lower intelligence and higher intelligence.
Let us play with that notion of the religious being of low intelligence. For example, if an Agnostic is a quantum physicist and knows about quarks, but a Christian who is a plumber does not, then I would say that Agnostic is of a higher intelligence, but only in knowing about quarks! Yet, the Christian offers their knowledge of Scripture and the Agnostic knows nothing of it, then the Christian is of higher intelligence than the Agnostic, but in only knowing about Scriptures.
Also, lower intelligence is not only a matter of being misinformed. The people may have other stressors that interfere with their learning (e.g.) living in an impoverished neighborhood that has no adequate sources of education, abuse within the family, etc. etc. In fact, these stressors affect both religious and agnostic alike. So, if the study you offer does not even deal with these other factors, then it is not a very objective study. You would have to provide something else.
May the Lord bless and keep you. May He let the light of His face shine upon you.
God's and your beast of burden
Fr. john

Answer 5

The nonbelievers who are Neocons are running things, and pulling the strings of the intellectually compromised (or in some cases, brainy but uninformed) believing Right Wingers. I'd rather have an unbelieving paleoconservative running things than a believing neoconservative.

I don't know that there were many unbelievers in the paleoconservative crew who founded the US. I don't buy the "they were all 100% Christian" myth, but to say that faith and religion and believing played no part at all is not correct either. Franklin and Jefferson (both of them soured on the organized Christianity of the day, but still Deists who believed in prayer) and devout (albeit flawed) Christians such as Benjamin Rush and John Adams and George Washington all worked together well, and overcame theological differences to build a country where God was respected, but citizens were free to worship him, or not, as they saw fit.

Christians are dumber (these patriotic luminaries notwithstanding), this I know, for the Bible tells me so:
1Corinthians 1:26 - 29 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.

Answer 6

Yep, the studies are true. There is an inverse correlation between intelligence and religious faith.

Answer 7

journey,if you really want to know truth, then i wonder if you really are agnostic?? Intelligence is the ability to learn, when anyone believes they know the answer about a given idea then they close their mind to further research or information about the idea.this results in the,"There are none so blind as those who will not see" A closed mind ceases to grow,not from lack of intelligence but because it believes there is nothing left to learn. isn't this what agnostics think?? i'm not agnostic so i don't fully understand them. I have entered the heart and experienced UNCONDITIONAL LOVE,I know we have access to all there is to know about GOD even to the GODHEAD. Correction the mind cannot comprehend the allness of GOD but your heart can.KEEP seeking you will find the answers. LOVE Whistle Britches

Answer 8

Yea...it's not some BS test. It was done by a respectible university. I guess christians will just come up with somethin like 'God is just giving us tht IQ to trick the non-believers.'

Answer 9

All that repeated brain-numbing reading of the same bible, koran and torah day-in and day-out,causes brain atrophy. They don't practise their brains on 50 creative ways to dispose of the bible, koran or torah, hence they are condemned to a life of lower IQ.

Answer 10

No, intelligence is NOT the key...

"At that time Jesus answered and said, 'I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.'"
- Matthew 11:25

Ask Him to make Himself known to you... He finds you; it's NOT the other way around...