Christians, Atheists: Is it a coincidence or is there a correlation?

Question

Most MENSA members as well as most science Nobel prize winners are and have been, in fact, Atheists.

Most poor and dispossessed people, most pregnant and drug-addicted teens, most terrorists, and most millionaires are religious people, specifically Christian in our part of the world.

What do you think this means?

Answer 1

It means the more people are exposed to logic and don't have mental illness, the more likely they are to conclude religion is silly.

Answer 2

I can easy believe that you wrote the first paragraph....

I can barely believe that anyone would include the second paragraph.

What you are saying, in essence, is that MOST "poor and dispossessed, pregnant teens, drug-addicted teens, terrorists and millionaries" are ignorant and therefore "religious" as some way to make up for it.

Please note the following about MENSA: "Mensans range in age from 4 to 94, but most are between 20 and 60. In education they range from preschoolers to high school dropouts to people with multiple doctorates. There are Mensans on welfare and Mensans who are millionaires. As far as occupations, the range is staggering. Mensa has professors and truck drivers, scientists and firefighters, computer programmers and farmers, artists, military people, musicians, laborers, police officers, glassblowers--the diverse list goes on and on. There are famous Mensans and prize-winning Mensans, but there are many whose names you wouldn't know. "

MENSA AND welfare???????? guess that screws your little theory.

In addition, please note that in order to become a member of MENSA you are not recruited, you can take an IQ test ( see
http://www.mensa.org/index0.php?page=10).

So I could draw another conclusion: that those who are satisfied in Christ about who they are do not need to try and run out and impress people by trying to get into MENSA.....those who DO get in do so voluntarily and therefore necessarily seek the title out, perhaps in an effort to strut like peacocks.....

AHHHHH now I see the point....thanks.

As for Nobel Prizes, let's see....Jews have received more than Muslims.....so do you make judgements about that?

Answer 3

<< Christian/Nerd

(I'm gonna use * to mark of side notes, so I dont' get off on a side track in the middle of an argument)

First off, I'd like to see some back up for these statistics. Atheists only make up of 10% of the world population, so it's not often that they make up the majority of any group. (Most non-religious people are agnostic*) But, for the sake of argument, lets assume that these statistics given are accurate.

I do believe there may be a correlation, at least partially, but not the one that many people will draw.

I think that people who are intellectuals are less likely to become Christians, but not because Christianity is something that you have to be a moron to believe, as I've been told in the past. Part of it is a pride thing, I believe. I've definately heard people with the mindset of "I'm too smart to fall for that Christianity trick". And, hearing other people argue that Christianity is a fools belief will often push them away from Christianity or other religions due to their pride.


Most terrorists are religious people- Yes, true to a degree, but very rarely Christians. Any Christian terrorists are definately not paying close attention to their bible, which is clearly anti-terrorist. Jesus didn't come to take down the political regime, and no part of the bible encourages Christians to do otherwise**. Most terrorists we're familar with are extremist Muslims.

So what about the rest that are majorly Christians? Well, even assuming this is all true, it probably depends on what your definition of 'religious' is. If your definition of 'religious' is goes to church 2 times a year (Xmas and Easter) or "has Christian parents", many of them aren't true Christians. Christianity isn't heriditary, and it takes more than sleeping through a service, it's a relationship, which is hard to hit upon by a generic poll.

Also, unlike atheists, Christians are the majority of the country, so they're going to be a large percent of any specific group you pick.

Christianity can appeal to all types of people. In Christianity, all people are equal. (In Christianity as it should be, that is, not the skewed version that often exists) "All have sinned", those millionaires are no better than the drug addicted teens in Gods eyes, and Jesus offers forgiveness to all.


*Atheist = Believes theres no god
Agnostic = Believes that we can't know whether or not theres a good.

**Yes, the crusaders were, to some degree, Christian terrorists. I definately think many people were making very unbiblical decisions back then, and I believe that they were wrong. For example, the Pope passing out "Get into heaven free passes" is definately not conforming to "I [Jesus] am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father but through me". In defense of the crusaders themselves, at this point reading the bible was mostly restricted to clergy (due to the language barrier), so they really couldn't double check what they were told. But yeah, I chalk the crusades to being a mistake.

Answer 4

I love the question --- thank you!

It is NEITHER a question of coincidence or correlation, but rather, kind sir, it is COMPLETELY a matter of how the atheists/humanists have infiltrated themselves (and their Godless ideas, eg. evolution "theory", "big bang" "theory" etc.) into the fields of science.

I really wish people here would STOP offering information like: "I'm a member of MENSA", when they cannot or are not willing to substantiate their claims. It only serves to make them look foolish. How many people would believe me if I said: "By the way, I work in the White House and have the ear of the President"?

In addition, Christians don't worship humankind, unlike humanists/atheists, so, as a consequence, they do not have the same unbridled enthusiam for MENSA. I doubt that most Christians would give MENSA and its prideful worship of the intelllect a second thought.

Finally. Yes, isn't it a wonderful atheist (Nobel prize for science) club, that takes such great pleasure in awarding its "free-thinking" fellow-travellers prizes. What planet are you on? Popular science is all about manufacturing reasons about the origins of life and the universe that exclude God as the Creator. Duh! Of course the Nobel prize for science is generally awarded to atheists.

Answer 5

I guess people missed that "most millionaires" line. Anyway...

I am a member of MENSA and I know that there's even a Bible study special-interest group within the organization. So, obviously the correlation can't be as simple as "IQ and religious belief are inversely proportional".

A really great study on this topic is in Michael Shermer's book "Why People Believe Weird Things". It turns out that a number of religious fanatics have high IQs. The thing is, they use their critical thinking to rationalize away opposition to a dogmatic belief that they insist on building a wall around.

As for religion sometimes being more wide among the lower-class, well in some situations where your only hope of changing the scene is to win the lottery, become a pop star, or see a miracle, people are going to wish for miracles. Never mind the idea of wanting to see success in a "next" life if it's not happening now.

The first post pointed out that Newton, Kepler, etc. were creationists. This is irrelevant, because hardly any of the ones listed were biologists. Even then, science has progressed since their time. You could make the argument that they were probably all racists too, but that doesn't prove anything even if it were true.

Answer 6

I dont agree with all your statistics there
however , it would make sense for most Mensa members or scientists to be Atheist
not because knowledge leads people away from God as many say on these boards
but because a religious person may have different interests and study in different areas than an Atheist
and also that a religious person may see joining something like Mensa contradictory to their teachings ... what I mean is that they perhaps value modesty and not wish to brag about their achievements etc

just me and my thoughts

Answer 7

Well, first, I wouldn't cite wikipedia as a "credible source". Citing them as a source doesn't help your cause. ;) However, I do believe I have read some studies (biased or not who knows?), that have shown that to be statistically significant. This is such a loaded question, because the Christian religion tends to cater to those who are poor (thus less education). However, I have a Master's degree and I believe in Yahweh and Yeshua.

Answer 8

I love how many people missed the "most millionaires" line.

I also love how the first response counted a bunch of people who lived before Darwin as "scientists who believed in creationism."

Anyway, I don't like MENSA. Any group that excludes people based on IQ (which isn't an accurate measure of intelligence anyway) is a waste of time and money.

Answer 9

Yes, there is a valid correlation. I've known this for at least 45 years. There is also an inverse correlation between religiosity and education that doesn't become really significant until the post graduate level.

Answer 10

Where do you get your reasoning?

Poor - the poorest people in the world are often the happiest people in the world.

Pregnant - what's wrong with that?

Drug-addicted teens are teens who don't know Christ and are trying to fill their lives up with something else that is unfulfilling.

Terrorists - do not know Christ.

Millionaires - mostly atheists. Bill Gates - need I say more? "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven."

Answer 11

Evolution functions on natural balance.... religions destroy natural balance... christians have no need to think or prove just to follow the status quo to keep nature off balance.. but prolonging the imbalance of nature is what contributes to the illnesses, wars, confusion i humanity..... nature has been trying to tell it's side of the story... religions seek to prevent that information from surfacing... It began to be empowered through the murder of it's opposers.... however.. nature never stops the battle and is capable of sharing it's knowlege that is why atheists have actual knowlege which transmits into intelligence.. christians have lies and the expectation that others must prove... their god of lies has a criteria of only blind faith... nature has to work at proving it exists.... that is the disadvantage... yet nature is the one that has the power of changing what gets to exsist on earth... christans/religions seek to destroy what belongs to nature.. including truth.... through murder or constant unending challenges to all or any new information that might surface through nature's battle to be heard... When nature has won a battle christians are quick to religify the information and murder the source of that information...