If half of the major advances in science were made by atheists, and half by Christians and other deists...?

Question

Can we then determine that intelligence has NOTHING to do with religious persuasion?
If anyone is interested in a list of scientists throughout history who were Christians or deists, I can provide it. Just let me know in your answer and I'll post a link.

So my next question is:
If it's true that some of the most intelligent and famous scientists have been Christians or deists (and actually, it IS true), why, then, do I STILL see people on here attempting to insist DAILY that Christians and other religious people are unintelligent?
Intelligence has nothing to do with whether a person will choose to be religious or not. So why do some people say it DOES affect a person's choice?

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiigh. I should have known I was going to have to do this.
Point 1: Being religious does NOT denote whether or not a person is "open-minded." One of the most narrow-minded people I've ever met was a non-Christian swinger, who tried to convince me that swinging was the only way to go, there was nothing wrong with it, and I'm narrow-minded because I don't swing.
Point 2: Some of the largest contributions in medicine, science, and archaeology have been made by Christians, deists, and theists, not only throughout history, but in modern times as well.
Here's a link to a list of Christian scientists, doctors, and professors:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/bios/
Here's a link to a list of many major scientists, and their particular religious persuasions:
http://www.adherents.com/people/100_scientists.html
Yes, I AM a Christian, and NO, this post was NOT a joke. Some of these answers go to show that some people aren't as open-minded as they think they are.

Two thumbs-down so far? Yup, that's a demonstration of having an open mind right there.
I would say this is a pretty good question, especially with all the stuff one sees on here.
So OBVIOUSLY, the thumbs-down are coming from people who disagree with me.
Would it be better if I simply said that all Christians are idiots? How about that?
Galileo and Copernicus were morons, and how DARE Einstein be agnostic? He was an idiot too, because his theory of relativity as compared to other laws within physics is a paradox. Go figure.
So even if a Christian is a scientist, or a scientist becomes a Christian, it isn't because they're intelligent, it's because they have no common sense?
Sigh. Don't even know why I bother. How arrogant to assume that people have always just believed because they had to, or because they have no common sense.

Answer 1

Faith has nothing to do with Intelligence. Newton, Franklin, and Einstein all had faith. These were intelligent and and logical people

Answer 2

Look at it this way. Three hundred years ago it would have been reasonable to point out that ALL scientific advances were made by theists. Newton, Boyle, Hooke, Faraday, Kelvin, Clark Maxwell, the list is massive. Hardly an atheist to be seen. Very clever men and women (though Marie Curie WAS an atheist). Thing is, how could someone like Newton have been anything other than a Christian? The whole worldview was different. No better explanation for fossils, sedimentation, or creation? Stick with the best possible theory, which happened to be in the bible. No way of measuring the age of the earth? Bible serves fine again. Science is all about overturning earlier best theories.

Take a look at any list nowadays. It's the opposite. There are a handful of theist scientists doing important work (the AiG list contains engineers, medics, and computer programmers; kudos to them, but only a handful have any knowledge of biology - six, I think I counted), but they are eclipsed by scientists who, if not atheist, are at least agnostic, and are certainly not theistic. It means that among the advances scientists made over the last five centuries, as a direct result of their inquiring, intelligent minds, is the gradual rejection of theistic answers to these questions. Argue with that.

It's not about whether or not Christians are more or less intelligent. It's what we do with our intelligence that makes all the difference. If you remain critical, reflective, inquiring and constantly test your own ideas in order to strengthen them, they you are exercising a critical faculty available to people of all levels of intelligence. If you dogmatically and obstinately stick with one idea and resist even the most overwhelming evidence that challenges it, you are stuck in a rut. It doesn't mean you're stupid. But it is stupid behaviour.

Answer 3

I never left, as I never belonged. However, being a human being, and appreciating very much the company of others, perhaps a better question is what keeps me from joining. After all, a non-believer, depending on where he lives, is anything from tolerated to despised. Now, given a church that promises me a loving God and eternal life, why would I not join. For the same reason I don't drink (no offense to those of you who do) I would rather be happy or sad based on what I feel is reality. When I watch a movie or read a book, I "willingly suspend" my disbelief. I am just not willing to live an entire life in that state

Answer 4

There were lots of religious scientists - but there have been fewer since we found explanations for more things (evolution, cosmic evolution, genetics, etc). However, more than 40% of current American scientists identify as non-religious (as opposed to only 10% of the general population), 97% of the national academy of scientists are atheists (the smartest scientists in the country), and over 40 published and peer-reviewed studies have shown that lower education levels correlates with higher religious belief. That's why people say that your education influences your religious beliefs - because they obviously do.

Answer 5

Actually, that's the wrong question. The question is: How many deists failed to become scientists because their faith hindered their openmindedness (or worse, caused them to be killed for heresy).

There are many cases where "diests" ignored the teachings of their faith and performed science anyway, effectively making them sudo-atheists (for lack of a better term). Examples include Galileo, Da Vinci, Galen, Newton, Nostrdamus (not as a psychic, but as a noteworthy physician), Hyppocrates (if you count any religion as non-atheist) and yes, Darwin. All were "diests" that performed and professed scientific advances that were considered heretical, some dying in the name of scientific truth despite the conflict with their religion. So while they might make your "Deist" list, they essentially ignored their faith and performed as atheists.

Answer 6

Intelligence and religion is not based on a small subset of the population that happens to be intelligent. I.e. just because a few scientists happened to be christian, does not mean in the least that every christian has the potential of being a scientist.

If you look at intelligence and religion as a whole, the trend clearly shows a negative correlation (the more religious you are the more ignorant you are).

It is not to say that being religious makes one stupid, but that stupid people are attracted to religion.

Answer 7

Intelligence is required both for scientific investigation and religious faith. The potter can make pots out of clay but can not make clay. So in nature so many things exist and operate which are explained by the scientist but he can not create something which does not exist. There are many issues which can not be explained by Science, and those are attributed to God. Hindus, hence believe that God is Pure Consciousness (Satchidanada)and human intelligence and intellect are but expressions of that Consciousness.

Answer 8

Well I have a list of scientific studies that DO show that religious believers have a lower intelligence level than those who do not. I can provide that.

Also seems like you are a bit confused as to what a Deist is....they are more like Atheists than xians anyday of the week.

Answer 9

Conditions determine consciousness.

I don't think religious people are less intelligent than the non-religious. But you can't deny that the non-religious tend to be more open minded. The fact that atheists and non-confessional people (a global minority) are the majority of scientists, already proves my point.

Answer 10

LMAO, this post can not possibly be real. No, almost all scientists today are not religious (over 96%), and in the past most of the major names have been Atheist or Agnostic, Albert Einstein anyone....

Wow, this post made me laugh.

Answer 11

That is one of the stupidest lines of logic I have ever heard, thus proving that at least one Christian is a nitwit.
There are way more Christians than atheists. If you have enough Christians, a few of them will eventually discover something important, even if the rest are bumbling idiots who think the universe is 6000 years old.