Why do people assume that Christians are stupid and ignorant?

Question

I happen to be a very intelligent person with an IQ of 148. I have never, in my entire life been called stupid and I'm certainly not ignorant. What gives people the right to call people names based on nothing more than their decision to believe in God?

Answer 1

don't worry, even geniuses had been called as such by people with very low IQ. it's all about people's right to have their own opinions and to voice it out, but that doesn't mean they should be taken seriously.

Answer 2

Daily personal experience.

I have friends that refer to THEMSELVES as recovering catholics. Doesn't that say something?

Intelligent Design (religion poorly wrapped up as science), in SCIENCE classrooms no less.

Then again, ALL religions seem to do the same thing in one way or the other. Its not belief in God, its defining that belief through scriptures written around say 2000 years ago without acknowledging that the world is very different now than it was then.

It seems to me that the greater the level of your stupidity, the louder you will scream. Since the loud screamers get the most attention, perhaps its just the fact that all anyone sees is the morons yelling from the mountaintops.

Perhaps when people are giving a shared idea a bad name, those who share it should be policing their own. To not do so implies only a different version of stupidity.

This has nothing to do with belief, but of practicality and publicity. The wrong people make it into the media because they are news worthy in having KILLED (violation of the 6th commandment) because they were preventing a larger crime (abortion) from happening (say in the form of an abortion clinic bombing) (judge not lest ye be judged..... unless its ME doing the judging - nice work around there which also makes the hat-trick in one single act - A for efficiency)

Yeah, great way to convince people God is on the side of sanity.

This coming from someone who believes in a higher power but is so turned off by screaming morons that religion as a tool to understand God has become a joke.

Why do you think that historically and statistically education level is inversely related to intensity and inflexibility of religious beliefs?

I said the greater the stupidity, the louder the scream. That could mean one of two things....

1.) I'm one of the loud screamers - draw your own conclusions.
2.) I'm right but because I'm not screaming about dogma but rather against it.

Hypocritical? Probably - but the judge not bit is your binding, not mine.
Wrong? I don't think so - there are in fact plenty of dogmatic screamers whether I'm being hypocritical or not.

Then again, I'm not claiming scripture for my backup.

Matt S. - you have a good point on the all vs. most vs. some issue, but to counter if I may, I don't think individuals are stupid - when they get into groups (and become 'all') then the mob mentality takes effect which is indeed stupid. Would a person commit a lynching or does that take a group effort - IE - mob mentality - to carry through? I would say the latter if I had to guess.

Reading through:

scripture quotation
mindless scripture quotation
scripture quotation
independent thought
scripture quotation
scripture quotation
independent thought
scripture quotation
scripture quotation
mindless scripture quotation
scripture quotation
scripture quotation
independent thought

You know what? These questions are asked of you, not of the good book, set it aside for a moment. I have a copy.

No, I didn't put that in order or detect a pattern or anything, just a general statistical thing. But I wonder if people also carry encyclopedias, a cosmology text book or perhaps biochemistry 101 around in their back pocket as well. I've read them all, how about you? Or will that just because a justification of some kind?

Answer 3

Granted. But have you read the posts here? If you have and don't think most of the posters here are ignorant and uneducated then you aren't that educated. The largest denominations and the fastest growing are fundamentalist and anti-intellectual and their pastor's standup routines always include belittling higher education and college professors. When I was in seminary (an ACTS accredited seminary, not a Bible college in a trailer court), I had the pastor of a mega-church in Costa Mesa tell me I was wasting my time and wouldn't learn anything good at "cemetary" and I should be in his school of minsitry which required everyone to listen to all of his lectures on the Bible twice. I responded that I had learned how to do original research into the the writings of the church fathers, and that in that research I learned that his claim that the sins of the Nicolaitans was to create church hierarchies "like the Roman Catholics" was baseless anti-Catholic propaganda that he learned at his Four Square Gospel Bible college, and was now an error that he had passed on to tens of thousands. So, while I may not learn everything at seminary, at least I had learned that he was not infallible, or even a Bible scholar of any sort, which he himself should have figured out when he mis-predicted the end of the world in 1979. As you can imagine that was the first time anyone had confronted him with anything other than pastor worship in years and he didn't take it well. And yet his kind of anti-scholastic, backwoods, folksy and really dogmatic religion has become the majoritarian Christian religion in this country. Maybe that's not you. But it's a big enough block of Christendom in America to warrant a general belief that Christians are stupid and uneducated.

Answer 4

It's the law of generalization and misinformation.

When the loudest voices of a religion are ACTING a certain way, and perpetuating a certain stance, then unfortunately ALL people get generalized into that box.

Don't think this happens only to Christianity. It happens to all religions, ethnic groups, races, sexes, and nationalities by someone, somewhere. The only solution is to become informed and to be more specific. The people around you will (hopefully) take from your example, WHATEVER group you are in.

Answer 5

I would say that even at 148 IQ , evidence out side the bible doesn't exists not even a shoe , even ole king tut was way before Jesus , and they have for fact evidence of him , only hear say of Jesus

Answer 6

See my answer to "Why are atheists seen as ridiculous in society?"
Asked by "We're only gonna die."

Also remember that Albert Einstein dropped out of High School at age 15. Someone dropping out at 15 in this day and age would be considered stupid and ignorant, if not for their grades, for making the decision to do so in the first place.

Besides that, it's true, people insult what they don't understand.

Answer 7

It's because of how most Christians decide to portray themselves. A perfect example would be the "God Warrior" that was on Trading Spouses. (look her up on YouTube, if you are unfamiliar with Margurite Perrin)

Most die hard Christians are intolerant of other people's belief systems. It's very rare that you'll find a fundamentalist who can meet a person who practices Islam or Buddhism, that doesn't say "You're going to Hell! Repent and be saved!" Or "Except Christ as your Savior!" or some other thing. They end up acting foolishly, and it makes the entire Christian faith look horribly bad.


[edit]

To Seeker: Actually, so many things that have occured in the Bible have been proven by outside sources to have occured. Even the story of Sadom and Gamorra(sp)-- they think they may
have found the ruins for those cities. They even teach in World History in schools, that Jesus did exist (they do not mention that
he may/may not have been the messiah).

It would be completely accurate to say that the Bible is one of the oldest history books, despite its unclear translation on certain things.

[/edit]

Answer 8

Generalizations. In most of my post I usually make sure I use "most", "some", but never "all" when referring to other people. I don't know everyone so I could never say all. I don't assume Christians are stupid, but most of the ones I've talked with don't display must intelligence or are too self-righteous that they won't even hear my words.

Answer 9

do you accept answers or seek them.? Do you inquire as to wrong verses in the bible or not question? Do you follow blindly without reservation or question your pat answer giving clergy?
Ignorance comes from not seeking answers and searching possibilities. Do you know why the study of religion is called theology? It is all Theory, that is why.
IQ does not make you wise or smarter than anyone and not seeking answers makes you weak. Is it better to settle for a theory or seek truth??????????????

Answer 10

Do not take it to heart. Those that disbelieve are those that will be handled by GOD later. It states in the Bible that we will be persecuted and hated for our beliefs. Looking at some of the responses you received just on this one question that proves the Bible is right. Satan has blinded some peoples eyes and they will not ask GOD to let them see again. Stay true to what you know is true. God Bless.

Answer 11

I haven't figured this one out either...God speaks on haughtiness often, though.

Romans 1:22 -
Professing to be wise, they became fools,



Psalms 94:1-11

O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs-- O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth! Rise up, O Judge of the earth; Render punishment to the proud. Lord, how long will the wicked, How long will the wicked triumph? They utter speech, and speak insolent things; All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves. They break in pieces Your people, O Lord, And afflict Your heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, And murder the fatherless. Yet they say, "The Lord does not see, Nor does the God of Jacob understand." Understand, you senseless among the people; And you fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see? He who instructs the nations, shall He not correct, He who teaches man knowledge? The Lord knows the thoughts of man, That they are futile.