Do you really think Christianity means a lower educational level?

Question

I know SOME of you seem to think so. I'm an atheist, but I by no means consider myself smarter than men like Dostoevsky, and none of you certainly are either. Do you ever consider than some great intellectuals possess spiritual drives as well? Rationality is relative to the individual, and perhaps the atheist rationality does not make sense to some. If we all had the same rationals, we'd be bees or ants.

Answer 1

No, I certainly don't.

Based on that, I believe the intelligent believers must always a conflict with their faith and their reason. I was a believer and i sure had that conflict.

That being said, I think there are more gullible believers than gullible Atheist per capita

Answer 2

I'm not quite sure how to answer this:
I don't think I'm smarter than someone like Dostoevsky, but I sure don't think I have a lower educational level than someone without faith. I'm Christian. I have a masters degree and two associate degrees.
I have 35 years of study in the Biblical manuscripts and all three of the languages to include Hebrew, Greek, and Chaldee.
My specialty is Biblical Prophecy.
Although I do not have a degree in the Sciences, so some may say I have a lesser ability to contribute to subjects such as evolution. So, I quess really the level of education doesn't matter as much as the type of education, depending on what you are discussing. If its evolution, I'm stupid;
if its Gods Word, I am intelligent. A matter of perspective, huh?

Answer 3

It's one thing to believe in a creator, and quite another to believe the dogma of the church or the absurd claims of the Bible. I don't know Dostoevsky's personal beliefs in this matter, but I do agree he was no lamebrain. While you proffer rationality, the word you are avoiding here is "irrational." Christian dogma is irrational, in my opinion, and it is not hard to figure out that the purpose of such dogma was, and is, to control people. There is a great battle going on for the control of people's minds, waged by the various religious and political sects of the world. Just because it doesn't involve bombs bursting in air doesn't mean it is any less real.

Answer 4

Just as an aside, isn't it a little arrogant to presume that nobody on the Internet is as smart as Dostoevsky? It is possible that a modern author of equal talent might be screwing around on here...

Or are you simply saying that nobody who fails to believe in any God can be as smart as Dostoevsky? And if so, which God must one believe in to be at the top of the pyramid?

But that's just an aside.

Certainly, some great intellectuals are driven by spirituality; and some are not. Overall, however, there does seem to be a correlation between the education level and probability of describing oneself as "religious".





As a final aside: Dostoevsky also had a gambling problem... does that place him above or below one of otherwise equal intelligence and religious belief who never visits Vegas?

Answer 5

I don't think so. My mom is Catholic, and she's one smart woman. She has a college degree in Medical Coding, Billing, and Insurance( not exactly sure what that is, but she's done it since I was about 10). She is also in an online college course furthering her education in it. I get my IQ from her, as she always gets high grades and solves problems her own way. She is also very wise, especially about her grandchildren. I give her a lot of credit, because she raised my sister Melissa, my brother Janes, and I. I figure she know best when she gives me advice. For example, my son was having constipation. She told me to switch formulas (I nurse but also supplement). So, I switched to Enfamil's formula for babies with fussiness and gas, and it worked. She also makes sure they are well taken care of, and makes sure I know what I'm doing (I do, but she's grandma and a mom, it's her nature). I would say that there are intelligent and not so intelligent people in all areas of life. You can't limit it to just one area or group of people.

Answer 6

I do know that in my particular denomination, the stats actually show a positive correlation between level of devotion and ones level of education and IQ.

Correlation, of course, does not indicate if one is causing the other or not, but I find that to be an interesting factoid.

And yes, I can also recongnize and appreciate brilliant people outside of my beliefs.

Answer 7

"Rationality is relative to the individual"

did anybody else stumble over this?

anyway, while nobody here save for the worst trolls would say all christians are dumb there IS a correlation between inclination to believe in higher powers and intelligence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religiosity_and_intelligence

Yes, that is a wikipedia link. I use it because it cites numerous sources.

Answer 8

There have been brilliant and well educated christians (and jews, and moslem, and hindus, etc.). Belief is often a result of your upbringing and culture, not a rational choice.

Having said that, there are also christians who deny reality in favor of a bible based mythical history. Whether it's due to a lack of education, intellect, or intellectual honesty, I question their rationality.

Answer 9

The most intelligent people in the world are at Lawrence Livermore Labs and 80% of them believe in God, with most of those being Christian. The older and wiser I get the more I understand the Bible and believe.

Answer 10

We seem to have reached a point where continued education is of little value to the Christian church. They speak ill of Christians who take sciences in college. That, and the stupidest ones yell the loudest. I don't think that I am smarter than a lot of people, there are a few we see regularly that I might be a bit smarter than though.