Non-believers : GENERALLY SPEAKING...do you consider Christians to be unintelligent?

Answer 1

I consider them to be uninformed, and spiritually "lazy".

I don't consider most of them unintelligent, although that's certainly an easy way to become a Christian.

But more than anything else, I think they simply fail to scrutinize what they've been told to believe. And they are so comfortable in that "ignorance", that they have no desire to do otherwise.

Answer 2

First of all, trying to claim that people back in a time when non theism was SO poorly viewed, in fact, for some of whom you mention, they lived in times when professed atheism was lethal, so that's dishonest. Next, until very recently, the social atmosphere was such that non theism was not considered or even acknowledged. You're kind of saying why back when there were only three TV channels, were there no shows like you find on HBO, FX, AMC, and so on. It's a major non sequitur. Further, people can be idiots about some things, while being smart about other matters. Beyond that, you have committed the fallacy of Argument from authority: -Although certain classes of argument from authority do on occasion constitute strong inductive arguments, arguments from authority are commonly used in a fallacious manner.[1][2][3]- -Fallacious arguments from authority often are the result of failing to meet at least one of the two conditions from the previous section.[1][2] Specifically, when the inference fails to meet the first condition, this is sometimes called an "appeal to inappropriate authority".[3] This occurs when an inference relies on individuals or groups without relevant expertise or knowledge[3] (e.g. when a doctor of medicine untrained in economics, opines about the state of the economy, many people still will give his opinions on the subject more credence than the opinions of a person of less, or of less imposing, education). Secondly, because the argument is inductive (which in this sense implies that the truth of the conclusion cannot be guaranteed by the truth of the premises), it also is fallacious to assert that the conclusion must be true.[2] Such an assertion is a non sequitur; the inductive argument might have probabilistic or statistical merit, but the conclusion does not follow unconditionally in the sense of being logically necessary.[4][5]- So, just on fallacies, Strike 2.

Answer 3

Not necessarily. It depends on a case by case basis. If they immediately start becomming self-righteous, condemning me to hell, or any number of other things they have done to me in the past, then I usually think they are either 1. Ignorant 2. Hypocrites 3. Trying to make themselves feel better or 4. Self-righteous jerks.

I don't think they are unintelligent simply because they have chosen christianity. I simply disagree with the direction of their own faith. After a lot of study and introspection, I could not believe in the same things as christians but I am not so arrogant as many of them to assume that they should or that they must share my beliefs.

Answer 4

Ha, I have to tell you a story even though this was focused on non believers and I am a believer. I once worked with a Design Engineer who was very much atheist and thought Christians to be uneducated wackos wanting to feel wanted and that was why they believe in God. I then waited a long while after when he had forgotten what he said and I said one day, Do you think I don't have any common sense? He said of course not you are very smart, you are an Engineer. I said that's really funny because I still believe in God! Seeing that he was a very argumentative person the silence on his part was priceless.

Answer 5

It has been shown that the more educated and the more intelligent people are, the lower the ratio of belivers.
This does not mean that Christians or any other belivers are unintelligent but that those tought to think scientifically have a harder time accepting the teachings of religion.

Answer 6

Wow, what a loaded question.

As a whole, I would say no. After all, there are lots of areas of knowledge. I do think religious people have a tendancy to be less educated in areas of science, however. I also think that religious people tend to need something to believe in because they're less emotionally strong, and they need that ultimate father figure. None of this makes a person unintelligent, though. Just misguided.

Answer 7

WELL.... a lot of the most vocal ones don't seem to have the most elementary understanding of logic, truth, honor, fair play, justice, or goodness (they THINK they do, of course). I suspect the problem is not with their intelligence, per se, but with their mental condition! Now let be be clear, a lot of Christians DO GET IT: they understand that God (the REAL one) doesn't send people to Hell for not believing that a snake told a woman to eat a fruit, they know bigotry is wrong, that Israel is behaving immorally towards the Palestinians, etc. MY COMPLAIN IS NOT AGAINST THEM!!!! - just the wackos would are currently the de facto, self-appointed leader of 'Christianity'... Of THAT group, I think a lot are just plain mentally ill and in desperate need of medication!

Answer 8

the ones who call everyone else "non-believers?" Yes - Christians have no monopoly on belief. Duh.

most Christians? not necessarily. Some are easily led and easily deceived, and some get bogged down in circular logic, but Christianity is not necessarily an indicator of intelligence or non-intelligence.

Answer 9

No. I consider them to be rather gullible. It is healthy to question things and not take them at face value.

I also find many of them haven't the slightest notion how science works. My opinion has gone down dramatically since I started coming here. I can't believe the level of stupid questions that would have been covered by eight grade science get asked here.

Answer 10

Not necessarily...I'm reading a book now called "Why People Believe Weird Things" and there's a chapter in it called "Why Smart People Believe Weird Things". Intelligence doesn't necessarily mean having rational beliefs.