Religion and IQ? Poles apart?

Question

Statistics show that those without any religious beliefs are highly insecure and base their existance on pure logic and "intelligence" . Hense their insecurity. I have never come across more misery as when a non-believer is about to leave this world and realises that there was more to it all than their narrow minded (But oh so intellectual)brains would allow.
My question is this- Why on earth would anyone purporting to be smart make a rediculous corrolation between Religion and IQ? (Its faith, not religion, that transcends the human brain anyway)

Answer 1

Perhaps they had read one of these many studies?
http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/Jesus/Intelligence%20&%20religion.htm
http://w-uh.com/posts/031226a-religion_vs_IQ.html
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=211920
"The consensus here is clear: more intelligent people tend not to believe in religion. And this observation is given added force when you consider that the above studies span a broad range of time,subjects and methodologies, and yet arrive at the same conclusion."
Where are the studies to back up your statistics?
BTW it's hence, not hense and ridiculous, not rediculous and it's not its.

Answer 2

Think of the two extremes within each social group; at one end, there are the mentally challenged people, the handicapped, the retards...people with not too much going in within their minds. These people don't really care that much for religion so it's fair to say that a certain amount of neural activity is required for one to be religious. Then at the other end of the scale we have the thinkers, innovators and scientists and these people generally aren't really too interested in religion as their minds are preoccupied with real facts. So it's the populous middle where religion has it's breeding ground.

Answer 3

So true! Religion requires thinking outside the box which indicates a high intelligence. While those with lesser intelligence and confined to the finite eventually are trapped within an existence without a reasonable avenue of explanation as to how all creation began without intelligent intervention. Many refuse to thing or are unable to imagine that there is more than the created world around them.

In Christ
Fr. Joseph

Answer 4

OK... Let's be sure that I've got this straight. You believe that a cosmic Jewish zombie, who is his own father, can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him that you accept him as your master so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced, by a talking snake with legs, to eat from a magical tree... (etc.)... and you think that there is something horribly wrong with those of us who ARE NOT stupid and gullible enough to believe such outrageously ridiculous codswallop.

LOL

First thing in the morning, please get in contact with your local mental health professionals. Oh... and be sure to tell them that it's an emergency.

By the way... your statistics are BOGUS... false... a lie. Here's what statistics DO show...

There are about 40 studies, conducted over the past 80 years, that reveal a statistically significant INVERSE correlation between intelligence and religiosity. In plainer language, they found that the more intelligent a person is, the LESS likely he is to be religious.

We're not entitled to conclude causality from these data, but there are three possibilities:

1. Considering religion important lowers measured IQ (unlikely, since IQ is substantially genetic whereas belief is not).

2. The causality is via other factors not considered, such as socio-economic conditions, cultural history, or physical environment (definitely possible).

3. Having a higher measured IQ lowers your likelihood of considering religion important (most likely).

If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense. Intelligence tests mainly provide an indication of reasoning ability and problem solving ability... critical thought. These are the very qualities that see through religion, and recognize it for what it is; i.e., religion cannot survive the glaring light of reason and critical thought. This was well understood by important figures in religious history. This is why the early church destroyed all the writings that were in conflict with dogma, such as Greek philosophical, medical and mathematical knowledge... all the good stuff... which led directly to the Dark Ages.

Just to illustrate the point, here's what Martin Luther, the 'father' of protestantism, had to say about it:

"Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed. Faith must trample underfoot all reason, sense, and understanding, and whatever it sees must be put out of sight and ... know nothing but the word of God." ~ Martin Luther

"There is on earth among all dangers no more dangerous thing than a richly endowed and adroit reason... Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed." ~ Martin Luther

"Reason should be destroyed in all Christians." ~ Martin Luther

Christianity is essentially a criminal business enterprise... in fact, it is the world's longest running and most successful Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) scam. The product they are selling is 'salvation'... and the 'pay plan' doesn't kick in until after you're dead. What a racket! FORTUNATELY, it only works on those who are gullible enough, and sufficiently lacking in critical thinking skills, to fall for it. UNfortunately, THAT accounts for about 75% of the population of the USA. (There are a lot more people who DON'T know how to think properly than there are people who DO know how to think properly.) That is why there are a lot more religious people in the USA than there are 'Free-thinkers'... including Atheists. Also, Christians generally do not realize that proselytizing (spreading the 'good news') is a key element of the Christian MLM MARKETING PLAN, which was instituted after Christianity lost the political power that had previously allowed them to simply torture and kill anybody who did not comply.

Interestingly, statistics on supernatural beliefs count the USA on a par with backward, developing Third World nations, rather than among modern, advanced industrial powers.

********************

"Selling eternal life is an unbeatable business, with no customers ever asking for their money back after the goods are not delivered." ~ Victor J. Stenger

"Businesses may come and go, but religion will last forever, for in no other endeavor does the consumer blame himself for product failure."  ~ Harvard Lampoon, "Doon" (paraphrase)

Answer 5

Religion and IQ are strongly negatively correlated. That is, statistically, the lower your IQ the more likely you will be religious. The link shows the actual experimental data.

So people make the correlation because it exists, can be measured, and has been measured.

Hope that was not too hard to follow.

Answer 6

Academics and Faith are two separate entities.
One can have faith in a higher power and study the sciences.
God said, "Bang" and the Big Bang happened.
God said, "evolve" and we did.
Any truly intelligent being can grasp that neither our science teachers nor our religious leaders hold all the answers,
Study your faith
Study your academics
And use the brain God gave you.

Answer 7

I would rather be intelligent and freethinking with a strong insecurity about dying and ceasing to exist, than a christian that is secure in a make believe idea about heaven and God and all the mother goose fairy tales. I prefer truth over a false sense of security.

Answer 8

"I have never come across more misery as when a non-believer is about to leave this world..."

And just how many atheists - or theists - have you actually seen in their final minutes or hours? It seems a conjecture.

Ditto, the "insight" on insecurity.

Basically, you're making stuff up in order to justify your desired "conclusion."

Answer 9

Yay, well done you, totally agree.
Faith is a completely different issue from intelligence. Fact. Smart Christians, dumb Christians, Smart atheists, dumb atheists. And the same for all other religions.

People who tell other people they must be intellectually lacking because of their faith are the ones who need their own intelligence examining - resorting to that sort of insult just shows a lack of knowledge and plain common sense.

Answer 10

Please, the poles are not as stupid as all of them dumb jokes indicate.
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To respond to your statement because you are not really asking a question.
It is only a few who insult intelligence and even you must admit that in some cases they are quite justified.
The other point is that intelligence has no relation at all to delusional thinking or to outright insanity.
In this section of Y!A there is plenty of delusional Christians and outright Insanitarians.
To play here you should have pounds of salt, not pinches, to take things with.