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Thread: Are Atheists Smarter or Simply More Self-Reliant and Self-Indulgent?

  1. #1

    Are Atheists Smarter or Simply More Self-Reliant and Self-Indulgent?


    Are Atheists Smarter or Simply More Self-Reliant and Self-Indulgent?
    By J. Warner Wallace
    Published
    July 26, 2017
    Are Atheists Smarter or Simply More Self-Reliant and Self-Indulgent? | Cold Case Christianity

    After attending Southern California universities for nine years, I was a committed atheist. Was my atheism the result of my intellectual prowess and education, or something else? One controversial study seems to imply a direct correlation between intelligence and atheism. A review of 63 studies of intelligence and religion from 1928 to 2012 allegedly reveals the following: non-believers, on average, score higher than religious people on intelligence tests. I think there may, in fact, be some truth in this discovery, but non-religious people should hesitate before they start celebrating. I think folks with higher IQ's may be more inclined to reject God, not because they're better able to assess the evidence and draw reasonable inferences, but because they are far more likely to reject any authority other than themselves.

    When I was a young boy, my teacher encouraged my mother to have my IQ tested. I was only six years old, but I can still remember the room where they administered the test. When it was all said and done, I found myself in "gifted" classes for the rest of my public education. As the years passed, I never forgot my IQ score and I came to think of myself as someone who was too smart to believe in imaginary beings. The more I thought I knew, the more self-reliant I became and the less I was willing to listen to what others had to say, especially about matters related to God. I was comfortable as my own judge and jury; my own authority about any number of things. My self-perception as a "smart guy" resulted in an arrogant, self-reliant and self-indulgent attitude toward life.

    I don't think I'm the only smart person who has experienced this. Studies repeatedly show the practical difference between non-believers and religious people when it comes to wise decision making. Religious people consistently demonstrate wisdom unmatched by their non-believing peers:


    Believers make wiser choices in their relationships

    Studies repeatedly reveal believers are more inclined to enter committed relationships, more likely to make wise marriage choices, enjoy better marital stability and remain satisfied in their marriages. When both spouses are actively engaged in their religious communities, they are more than two times less likely to divorce than unbelieving couples.


    Believers make wiser choices in their parenting

    Believing mothers and fathers make wiser choices as parents. They are more involved in the lives of their children, more involved in their children's educational experience, are more likely to invest in the lives of their kids, and report stronger and better relationships with their children.


    Believers make wiser choices related to early sexual activity

    The more committed a believer is to his or her religious practice, the lower the level of teenage sexual activity. As a result, committed believers are 2 to 3 times less likely to have a child out of wedlock.


    Believers make wiser choices in their use of alcohol and drugs

    Many studies confirm the relationship between religious belief and reduced likelihood of alcohol abuse, and researchers have also established a similar relationship between religious commitment and drug use. Religious people are far less likely to become alcoholics or drug addicts.


    Believers make wiser choices in the way they live their lives

    Committed religious believers are much more likely to make wise choices in their personal lives. Believers, for example, are less likely to commit acts of violence against their partners. The more committed they are to their religious belief, the less likely they are to behave violently. In addition, believers report they are happier, more satisfied with their lives, and have greater morale.


    Believers make wiser choices related to education

    Religious people have higher academic expectations, attend school more regularly, achieve higher levels of education and generally perform better in their academic environment. Studies demonstrate academic performance is positively affected by religious practice.


    Believers make wiser choices related to compassion and charity

    Studies also reveal religious believers are more likely to report compassionate, empathetic feelings toward disadvantaged people than their non-believing counterparts. This heightened compassion motivates religious people to be much more charitable; believers give far more to charitable organizations than do non-religious people.


    Believers make wiser choices related to criminal activity

    There is also a direct relationship between committed religious belief and criminal activity. Committed believers are far less likely to use weapons, engage in violent activity or commit other felonious crimes.

    If believers are so much less intelligent than their non-believing counterparts, why do they repeatedly make wiser choices? As a boy, I can remember an incident that seems to explain this phenomenon. I was not yet a teenager, but I certainly thought I was smarter than most adults, and on this particular day, that included my mother. I can remember arguing with her at a local retail store and repeatedly challenging her (I can't remember the subject of our argument). For every point she offered, I countered with a stubborn opposing view. We went back and forth for a while as we walked through the store. I stubbornly refused to comply with whatever it was she wanted me to do, offering five or six reasons for rejecting her request. By the time we got to the checkout register, she was exhausted. We continued to argue as we stood there in line, and at one point an older man standing behind us turned to his wife and said, "That boy is too smart for his own good." There is often a relationship between intelligence and the willful rejection of authority. Being smart doesn't guarantee you'll make smart decisions.

    There is often a relationship between intelligence and the willful rejection of authority. Being smart doesn't guarantee you'll make smart decisions. For this reason, the connection between IQ and religious belief is unsurprising and unflattering. There are lots of incredibly smart believers; these folks have simply learned to submit their self-reliance and self-indulgence before investigating the case for God's existence.



    Long version...

    Are Atheists Smarter or Simply More Self-Reliant and Self-Indulgent?





    Short version...


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

    I Corinthians 1:18-31
    (18) For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
    (19) For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
    (20) Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
    (21) For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
    (22) For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
    (23) But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
    (24) But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
    (25) Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
    (26) For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
    (27) But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
    (28) And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
    (29) That no flesh should glory in his presence.
    (30) But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
    (31) That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

    I Corinthians 2:4-14
    (4) And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
    (5) That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
    (6) Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
    (7) But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
    (8) Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
    (9) But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
    (10) But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
    (11) For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
    (12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
    (13) Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
    (14) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.








    This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity (futility) of their mind, having the understanding darkened...
    (Ephesians 4:17-18)

    Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly...
    (Psalm 1)

  2. #2
    Administrator fuego's Avatar
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    I think folks with higher IQ's may be more inclined to reject God, not because they're better able to assess the evidence and draw reasonable inferences, but because they are far more likely to reject any authority other than themselves.
    Bingo.

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  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by fuego View Post
    Bingo.
    I think folks with higher IQ's may be more inclined to reject God, not because they're better able to assess the evidence and draw reasonable inferences, but because they are far more likely to reject any authority other than themselves.
    I think the real issue is how is atheisim defined ...

    Many people are functional atheists in the sense that they may make no formal rejection of God but little in there lives reflect any belief in God . Such people are definitely not smart and dont score any higher on IQ tests

    Then there are the highly intellectual types whose pride then leads them to reject God . I believe this is the group the article is referring to

    Having said that I do believe that unfettered non spirit led religiosity does tend to dull ones IQ for the mere fact that many religions do make it taboo to question assumptions and thought processes

  5. #4
    Administrator fuego's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BAP View Post
    Many people are functional atheists in the sense that they may make no formal rejection of God but little in there lives reflect any belief in God .
    Even many Christians fall into this category. In the way they live their lives they are practical and functional atheists.

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