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Comment by Hope on August 14, 2013 at 12:55am

Religious people are less intelligent than atheists, study finds

Religious people are less intelligent than non-believers, according to a new review of 63 scientific studies stretching back over decades.

A team led by Miron Zuckerman of the University of Rochester found “a reliable negative relation between intelligence and religiosity” in 53 out of 63 studies. Even in extreme old age, intelligent people are less likely to believe, the researchers found - and the reasons why people with high IQs shun religion may not be as simple as previously thought.

Previous studies have tended to assume that intelligent people simply “know better”, the researchers write - but the reasons may be more complex.

For instance, intelligent people are more likely to be married, and more likely to be successful in life - and this may mean they “need” religion less.

The studies used in Zuckerman's paper included a life-long analysis of the beliefs of a group of 1,500 gifted children - those with IQs over 135 - in a study which began in 1921 and continues today.

Even at 75 to 91 years of age, the children from Lewis Terman’s study scored lower for religiosity than the general population - contrary to the widely held belief that people turn to God as they age. The researchers noted that data was lacking about religious attitudes in old age and say, “Additional research is needed to resolve this issue.”

As early as 1958, Michael Argyle concluded, “Although intelligent children grasp religious concepts earlier, they are also the first to doubt the truth of religion, and intelligent students are much less likely to accept orthodox beliefs, and rather less likely to have pro-religious attitudes.”

A 1916 study quoted in Zuckerman’s paper (Leuba) found that, “58% of randomly selected scientists in the United States expressed disbelief in, or doubt regarding the existence of God; this proportion rose to nearly 70% for the most eminent scientists.”

Yahoo

Comment by Hope on July 8, 2013 at 8:51pm

Why We Believe in Gods - Dr. Andy Thomson (American Atheists)

 

Comment by Hope on July 2, 2013 at 8:03pm

God is for idiots

Comment by Hope on July 2, 2013 at 6:46pm

20 Vile Quotes Against Women By Religious Leaders From St. Augustine to Pat Robertson

The media’s most unabashed misogynists are actually tame compared to their ideological ancestors, which include the biggest names in Christian history.

June 30, 2013 | With diatribes about entertainers who invite rape and moms who are destroying America by supporting their families...with ignorant arguments about fetuses that masturbate, and females who might as well if they use contraception, and fetal personhood that trumps the personhood of females...it’s tempting to think that Christian conservatives have reached some new pinnacle of hating women and sexuality. But the sad reality is that even the media’s most unabashed misogynists like Michele Bachmann, Michael Burgess, Lou Dobbs and Juan Williams are actually tame compared to their ideological ancestors, including some of the biggest names in Christian history.

In past centuries, men who were hailed as church fathers, patriarchs, doctors, and even saints boldly expressed their view that females are inferior and loathsome, and they explained at length why God shared their perspective. Lest we fall into the conservative trap of thinking that the past was somehow better than the nasty messes we face today, it’s worth pondering some of the lovely tidbits the Church has thought fit to preserve and promote in the centuries since Christianity was founded. Here are some of the most savory. They come from three waves of religious leaders: “Fathers” of the Catholic Church, Protestant reformers, and American patriarchs who inherited the mantle of both.

Church Doctors and Fathers

· Every woman should be filled with shame by the thought that she is a woman.–Saint Clement of Alexandria, Christian theologian (c150-215)

· In pain shall you bring forth children, woman, and you shall turn to your husband and he shall rule over you. And do you not know that you are Eve? God’s sentence hangs still over all your sex and His punishment weighs down upon you. You are the devil’s gateway; you are she who first violated the forbidden tree and broke the law of God. It was you who coaxed your way around him whom the devil had not the force to attack. With what ease you shattered that image of God: Man! Because of the death you merited, even the Son of God had to die... Woman, you are the gate to hell. –Tertullian, “the father of Latin Christianity” (c160-225)

· http://www.alternet.org/belief/20-vile-quotes-against-women-religio...

Comment by Hope on July 2, 2013 at 6:40pm

Thank you all for joining this group! \ (•◡•) /

Comment by Christian AWOL on July 29, 2012 at 7:21pm

Just a comment on the Great Chrisian doctrine of original sin. It requires that obvious mythology get turned around and transformed into historical fact. If Adam and Eve didn't actually sin in Eden, then there is no basis for original sin. However, original sin is required to have Christ's death make any sense. So no original sin = Christ died in vain. Everything hinges on that first magical couple eating fruit from a forbidden tree because a reptile (no mention of satan in the book itself) told them too. Nice.

Comment by Hope on April 26, 2011 at 8:26am

Comment by Hope on March 18, 2011 at 10:14am

Comment by Hope on February 23, 2011 at 2:04pm

Comment by Shanna on February 17, 2011 at 10:22pm

Hi group. Nice to be here!

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