Is atheism/agnosticism largely a belief among the intellectually elite?

Question

And belief in a God more common among the poorer educated masses? (This was asserted by a religious man interviewed on "Speaking of Faith" this week.)

If so, how is dialogue possible?

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Answer 1

I have read articles and research that says that religiosity is negatively correlated with educational attainment, and that a disproportionately number of people with high I.Q.s are non-religious. I think that using religion to make sense of the unexplained factors of our existence requires less critical thought or mental effort. You can just blame unseen forces for everything. Figuring out our existence secularly stops you from making such generalizations and forces you to consider the causal factors and potential for each situation differently. I don't mean to poke fun or denigrate religion here, but I'm just speaking from my own experiences and observations. I was raised to be religious and used to have faith in god, Jesus and all that stuff. But as my thinking matured and became more complex, I adopted an agnostic point of view because I realized my ignorance dwarfed my knowledge or even the availability of true answers to existential questions. I've heard people whose way method of existential though went in the opposite direction, but I guess they seek different things from this life than I do.

Answer 2

Belief in God is either indoctrination or delusion,most people are taught their religion from an early age when their mind is very amenable to accepting what is clearly fantasy. As far as I'm concerned God is nothing more than an adult version of an imaginary friend. I also suppose alot of how closely people stick to their religious beliefs in adulthood has alot to do with how capable they are of dealing with the stresses of everyday life, The less independent and self assured a person is the more they cling to their religion as a way to keep themselves grounded and give them a sense of security. The dialogue is difficult because how can you debate the completely delusional teachings of religion.

Answer 3

It would seem so. Most academics either do not believe in God or are not sure if there is a God. Dialogue is possible but you are not going to change the mind of an agnostic or atheist because they have heard all the arguments before and have carefully and fully considered them before they have made their decision.

It is also difficult to have a dialogue with people whose idea of an argument is to resort to invective and insults as their preferred mode of making a point. They seem incapable of grasping the fact that such a tactic whilst being puerile is also irrational and does not provide a valid answer to anything yet alone whether God exists.

Answer 4

First you need to define intellectually elite.

Some think the bible was created as a way to keep the slaves and the serfs in line, so that they wouldn't revolt and stop working, as a way to keep them happy - thinking that all their hard work and toil would pay off with a big reward in heaven. (Funny how you'd have to be dead to be rewarded for quietly putting up with slavery...) I am one of these people. The bible even intimates that you're not supposed to think about it, just believe. My bf's mom even told me once (she's an Evangelical) that God said you're not meant to think and reason about it, just have "faith. People who do think about it see that it's a load of bunk. Being better educated is by no means a prelude to disbelief - but it helps. I'm aware this makes me look "elitist'.

Answer 5

I dont think that statement is true at all.
Atheism is just a position. Here in Australia there are many Atheist. And lots of them are the most uneducated, untrustworthy fools. Many of these atheist believe ghost visit them etc. They seem to interpret Atheism to mean you are 'free' to believe any thing you can imagine.
Of course many religous folk believe the same.
Many religous people are very inteligent. They are obviously aware that encouraging young minds fantasies helps to make and keep future converts.

EDIT
to 'smiley.george'
You are a retired minister of some 30 years. cool. Look back over my questions and send me your answers please. I try often to refrain from using words like 'Idiot","moron","stupid" etc. Although I have probably used them once or twice.

Answer 6

Yes, it's true. It's a common complaint among the religious themselves that universities are bastions of atheism.

Odd that they don't seem to figure out why an environment nurturing highly educated people doesn't seem to have a high degree of believers.

Answer 7

As a fellow atheist, I seen some uneducated atheist who don't know what they are talking about. For the most part its semi-correct, because most religious people believe they found their "truth" so they refuse to try to find answers thus they lack intellectually. If you don't use your brain you probably won't get any more intelligent.

Answer 8

I think the word "elite" is just another wedge whose only purpose is to divide us.

But I do think that the better one is education in science, logic and philosophy, the less likely you are to be a fundamentalist of any religion.

Answer 9

which man? which religion?
atheist and agnostics do have this feeling of intellectually superiority, but if you read their questions and answers they have a hard time putting a comprehensive sentence together, and spend their time on word like stupid, moron, and idiot, if they really are more intelligent, then why do they have to put others down to make themselves feel superior?
come on use a argument that you can prove, refrain from insults, and say something intelligent.
and please if you can't spell, use the spell checker.
by the way i am not talking about this question, the spelling is correct.

Answer 10

That makes sense to me, I haven't seen statistics.

Well if the ultrarich televangelists and the rich oilmen in the Bush family can reach the poor why can't the intellectually elite?